About My Cats

Learn about Esmeralda and Susan!

Esme was my first cat. I got her freshman year of college while I was still in the dorms as an Emotional Support Animal. She does her job wonderfully.
I got Esme when she was 8 months old. She had been in foster care for about 5 months while she was treated for a minor illness. Before foster care, she was a stray in NYC. I'm not sure what made her end up in Boston, but I'm glad she did.
Since she was a stray, her left ear is clipped. I actually appreciate this, since she is a "standard" color of cat and if she was to get lost I would have at least one identifiable thing to put on a poster.
When I first started looking for a cat, I wanted a younger kitten. I was hoping I could get one about 3 months old. But the woman I was speaking with to coordinate adopting a cat sent me a video of Esme yelling and trying to eat her foster mom's laptop, and who could resist that?
Before I got her, Esme's name in foster care was "Rascal", likely due to the aformentioned screaming and biting. It suits her. The name I gave her, Esmeralda, is from a character in the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett. I liked the name, and the character is a witch, so it felt fitting for a black cat.
It's now been over 3 years since I got Esme, and soon she will be turning 4. Her birthday is May 14, which is the same as my family's dog's birthday.

I had always been a bit worried that Esme was lonely when I went to work, but I never felt like I could give 2 cats the attention and care they deserved. Fortunately I began dating my partner and we decided that between the two of us we would be able to take care of a kitten.
We found Susie on Facebook Marketplace, after a friend sent her photo/post. I made the mistake of falling in love with her before we asked the price, so we paid an embarrasing amount for her, but she's worth every penny.
Like Esme, Susie gets her name from a Discworld character. There's a character with blue eyes and white hair that has a black streak in it, and when Susie was a baby, before her Siamese genes finished toasting her, she was almost entirely white, with a black streak on her nose.
When we first got Susie, she weighed 2lbs, and fit in the palm of your hand. She is not fully grown yet, but she now weighs 8lbs. I am hoping she does not outgrow Esme, who is 11lbs, because I like their mismatched size.
Susie is full of love. (And violence, but that's not her fault, she's a kitten). Her main loves in life are, in order:
1. Esme
2. My partner
3. Whipped cream
4. Water
5. Cheese
From the day we got her, Susie has had hundreds of nicknames, and her name gets butchered in our household far more than Esme's. However, the nickname that has stuck the most is a recent one: "Soup Can," often shortened to just "Soup" for brevity. She has begun responding as well to this as she does for her actual name.