Our Pets
The Alliance includes two cats, Gandalf and Molly.
Gandalf T. Cat (the “T” stands for “The Grey”), otherwise known as Gancat, Gankitty, Cattus Maximus, Gandalfus, Cat of La Mancha, Man Cat, or just plain Gan, is a two-year old grey cat. He loves toy mousies, small streams of water from faucets, treats, and peering outside. His hobbies include looking innocent, climbing scratching posts, playing fetch with mousies, and being really, really scared of just about everything. Alice adopted him from the Yolo County SPCA at half a year old, and he has been catting it up with her ever since.
Molly (Mollymolly, Mollymollymolly, etc. ad nauseum, Molly Wolly Doodle, Moll Woll, Moll Ball, Moll, Mollybdenum, White Cat) is a six-year old white cat with one green eye and one blue eye. She loves sleeping, belly rubs, laser pointers, and being brushed. Her hobbies include hitting Gandalf, running from Gandalf, hissing at Gandalf, eating Gandalf’s food, and stealing Gandalf’s mousies. We adopted her from the Yolo County SPCA in late 2006. She had had a litter of a single kitten earlier in her life, had several illnesses and lost a significant number of her teeth. She had a lump on her chest that was thought to be cancer, but turned out to just be a fibroid. Nobody wanted to adopt her due to her age and color (increased risk of skin cancer), but we fell in love with her and took her home with us.
The first of three fishtanks in our household contains Max Medina, a male Betta. He was rescued from a leaky tank with an attached “FREE” post-it from atop a dumpster, and has thrived for the past five months. He now spends most of his time sitting motionless in his tank, missing the food pellets we give him, or hanging out with his only friend, a floating glass toy frog.
The second fishtank contains four white cloud mountain minnows. They are simple creatures, and swim among their plastic plants, eat flakes, and revel in the current from the tank filter.
The final fishtank is the largest and newest, and Alice’s first foray into a planted tank. It contains five neon tetras (The Jets), one red platy (sole survivor of The Sharks) and two Mickey Mouse platys, two cory cats (The Corys), and one pleco. The Sharks began with four red platys, but two died and one disappeared without a trace while the Alliance was visiting France in June and July of 2007. The two Mickey Mouse platys were added to replenish the gang’s numbers. The Corys initially had three members, until one sickened and passed away in February 2007. Another mysteriously vanished in May 2007, leaving one lonely survivor. The tetras and the platys pick on the corys and eat all their food, as well as their own. The pleco eats his food, the corys’ food, all the algae that grows in the tank, and the plants. We think he will eventually move on to eating the tank itself.