He was named Tesuque after a Pueblo People who live north of Santa Fe. There is also a Mt. Peak and a village I spent a lot of time in when I was young named Tesuque. Of course, as with most cats, he had his other nick name. Tesuque's was Doody. I won't go into how it started (and it started within days of his arrival), but he was my beloved Tesuque-Doody.

Tesuque was a terrorist kitten when he was a baby, and later my lover cat. Being a Maine Coon Mutt he is a huge adult cat. He also was very lovable big fuzz ball. When he walked into the room, he had a presence of authority, and the other cats knew they had to mind their behavior. Then the next minute he would be curled up like a kitten purring and drooling on my lap. I could hold my big cat in my arms, hug him and lay my face in his fluffy fur. He was a lion one minute, and the next he was my kitten boy.

Tesuque was my best buddy his 17 years of life. He was always ready to offer comfort during my trying times. He was a survivor kitty, and has defied death a few times. He suffered from rheumatoid arthritis & occasional asthma, just like I do. I felt so connected to him, and love him so much. Tesuque was always a very special cat. He gave us so much love. Tesuque and Dulce chose me to be their surrogate mother. They both not only gave me a tremendous amount of love, but even more important, they taught me a lot about how to love.

Tesuque died May 2006, and I will always miss him. I know it was his time & that I have been so lucky to have spent 17 years of my life with my best buddy, but I'll always miss hugging & kissing my kitty boy. I'll miss the loving look he would give me. My husband, Jim, and I showered him with love, so I know he had a good life.

Tesuque was my Christmas kitty. Quatro was my Halloween kitty since he found me on Halloween night. I had just come out of a local store & I saw what looked like Tesuque sitting right by my car door. I quickly rushed over, grabbed him up and jumped into the car. Once I was in the car I realized this cat was too light to be Tesuque, but he sure looked like Tesuque. I left notices all over the area and no one replied. Cat number four came into my life. Cuatro means 4 in Spanish. I mixed Cuatro with Kliban Qat to get Quatro.

From the moment I picked him up, he was loving and sweet. The minute I walked into the door, he saw the other three cats, and he went crazy. He became a fire breathing dragon from hell. He hid behind my bed, growled & screeched if anyone came near him.

All night I worried that he would be just too wild to keep. Then the next day, he was prancing around the house with the other cats like nothing had happened the day before.

About eight years later, when Jim and I joined our family of cats into one pride, I had forgotten about how Quatro reacted to my other cats. He reacted the exact same way, in fact he was so freaked out that Jim and I slept on the futon in the front room because he was just that scary!

Quatro has always walked a thin line between being a feral cat & a tame kitty. When I first took him to the Vet, she didn't think I'd have much luck taming my semi-wild boy, but I never gave up on him. He would snap at anyone who tried to touch him. He had absolutely no desire to be anyone's lap kitty.

When we brought in our newest cat, Pojoaque, Quatro was calm & very curious. Pojoaque slowly won us all over, but Quatro was the real challenge. He would follow Quatro around mimicking him, and learning from him. Quatro was the most patient, grandfatherly cat towards Pojoaque. Unfortunately the years were catching up on Quatro, and this elder, gentlemen died about a month after Pojoaque entered our lives. It broke my heart to see my new little kitty boy, Pojoaque walking around the house looking for Quatro.

Quatro was unlike any cat I've ever known. Tesuque had always like water, but Quatro loved water. Whenever I took a bath, he was there. He loved to bask in the humidifier I had near my bed at night, and whenever we took a shower, there he was in the bathtub with us. The two days before Quatro died had been great days for him. Jim started watering. I looked out the back window, and there was Quatro standing right next to his buddy Jim. They were both watching the sprinkler Jim had sitting on the compost pile. This is a memory of Quatro I will always have etched in my mind. The next day Jim watered the front yard for the first time since last autumn. Quatro was sitting at the window crying, so I let him out in the front yard with Jim. He had a great time running in and out of the water.