Cats: Castor and Pollux

We have five cats. The two oldest are named Castor and Pollux. Though they have the same names as the sons of Zeus, our cats were not named after these sons directly. The two "buddies", as we like to call them, were named after two of the UNIX servers at Bucknell University, which were in turn named after the sons of Zeus. Castor and Pollux were born in a litter of three. They have a sister, Jessie, who is still in the same household as the mother. They were born on 07 AUG 2004. The order of the births was as follows: Castor, Pollux, and finally Jessie. Our cats are American short-haired tabby cats.

The other three cats are: Huey, Dewey, and Louie. They are from a litter of strays that numbered from 10 to 12. Their birthdate is estimated to be SEP 2006. At first the Castor and Pollux did not like the new buddies very much - constantly hissing and fighting. Now they only growl and run away. We do find them sleeping together from time to time, so they must get along at least a little bit!

• Castor

  

  Castor was the first born. He is shier around animals but friendlier to people. He has a horizontal line on each side of his face (between two others like a Zorro mask) to distinguish him from Pollux. Castor is a faster eater, and we think that he sometimes steals Pollux's food. This might explain why Pollux is slightly skinnier than Castor, but it could also be genetic, since Castor has been bigger since birth.

• Pollux

  

  Pollux was the second born of the three litter mates. He is shier around people, often hiding in the basement when they first arrive but is much braver when it comes to visiting animals (like my mom's Jack Russell Terrier, Peanut). Of the three, Pollux was the smallest when born. He still seems a little skinnier than Castor. We are not sure who starts more of their fights, though.

  Pollux lacks the middle horizontal line on each side of his face, distinguishing him from Castor. There are other ways to tell them apart, though. Castor's ears tend to be a little lighter, and Pollux's tend to be a little darker. Over time, however, Castor's ears have gotten darker, so it times of low light they can be hard to distinguish by this feature. The most obvious way to tell them apart, though, is Pollux's extra toes. On each front paw, Pollux has a 6th toe. This is called Polydactyly and is actually fairly common among cats. Pollux basically has two "thumbs" on each front paw. He has had them since birth, and it doesn't seem to bother him at all. Apparently, the sister Jessie has one extra toe on one front paw as well.

• Squeaker vs. Sneaker

  Reminiscent of Stinker and Slinker from the Lord of the Rings, the cats have earned the nicknames Squeaker and Sneaker. Sometimes we call Castor "Squeaker". This is because sometimes he mews in short succinct bursts. When he does this, he usually wants something, like food. Pollux on the other hand hardly ever "squeaks" like this. His mews are usually longer and plaintive. He also does a deep-throated trill at times when he is announcing his presence upon entering a room, but this has been less of late.

  Pollux gets the title "Sneaker" because he often tries to steal things from us. This is usually food from the dinner table but also includes things like twisty-ties from bread bags. Sometimes Katie calls him the Robber Baron. Castor is not nearly as brave -- or foolhardy, depending on how you look at it! -- when it comes to stealing things.

• Other Family Members

  This is what Castor and Pollux's sister Jessie looks like:

  

  In the photo below, Jessie is lying down in the back. TigerLily, the mother of Castor and Pollux, is the one on the right. Suki is the black cat on the left. Suki is the sister of Castor and Pollux from a later litter. Suki probably has a different father, and we suspect Jessie might have had a different father, too.