Nicky and Stephen

Biscuit was born July 18, 1992 in Herndon, Virginia. He was part of a litter of 2 boys. He started off life with paws that were bigger than the rest of him. He was a polydactyl cat (cats that are born with extra toes). Biscuit had 24 toes, instead of the normal 18. The obvious name for him would have been "Bigfoot".

He was six weeks old when I brought him home. He stayed under the dining room table the first few days. He wouldn't eat or drink. I was beginning to think I might have to give him back if he didn't eat soon. I went in and sat on the floor in the dining room just watching him. I meowed a couple times and he meowed back and ran into my lap. We've been unseparable ever since.

I sometimes wondered if he was part cat and part dog. He loved for us to throw things and he would run after them, pick them up with his mouth, and then bring it back and drop it at our feet. Some of his favorites were Coke bottle caps and a rabbit's foot. He often had 3 am ice hockey games in the entry hall. He would hit the bottle cap with his paw and we'd hear it hit the wall and he'd go sliding after it. When I moved to Florida we found hundreds of bottle caps hidden under furniture, the stove and refrigerator in the kitchen.

   When the doorbell rang, he always ran to the door and growled. In Florida, when the UPS man came, he hissed and growled at him. Stephen used to tease him by making the sound of the UPS truck. Biscuit's ears would flatten back and his eyes would open wide.

Biscuit was a very friendly and loving cat. He gave Stephen his seal of approval the first time they met. He loved to be scratched under his chin, his little nose would scrunch all up. He almost looked like he was puckering up for a kiss. He always gave little kitty kisses when I came home from work. He'd be patiently waiting for his turn after Stephen.

   He always wanted to be near us. One of his favorite spots was in the office looking out the window. Most days he could be found there while Stephen was working.

   When Stephen and I went for walks Biscuit would lay in the window and watch for us. You could hear him start to meow as soon as we came back into sight.

   You could always tell when the temperature cooled off because he'd be sleeping by our heads (Sometimes on our heads). He would just come in, knead the pillow a couple times, and just drop.

   Sleep was his favorite activity. We'd often find him sleeping so soundly he'd be stretched out on the floor on his back with his big paws crossed over his chest. We had an empty aquarium in the garage that he took a liking to and declared it his own. He used to sleep in it a lot and we would laugh and say we had our own cat fish.

   He used to wake us up in the mornings with a gentle paw against our cheeks. And if that didn't do it, he'd lick our faces. And if that didn't work, he'd go in the bathroom and knock things into the sink to get our attention.If that didn't do the trick, then he would just settle down into the sink and wait for someone to show up.

Sometimes, he would meow so loud that Stephen nicknamed him "Whine E. Cat-ote". A loud meow was his way of asking for the water to be turned on. He loved to drink water from the faucets. He almost never drank out of a bowl. We had a water fountain that our friend, Nancy, gave us and he liked to drink out of that.

One of his favorite things to do was catching lizards. We would let him out on the patio and within seconds he had one in his mouth. He'd be by the door waiting to take it in the house to play. He'd chase it around a little and then have a snack.

   We remember one day we were both on the computer and Biscuit had found one in the garage. He brought it in to the office door and proceeded to crunch and crunch and crunch.

   He always left the head and the two front legs for us to discover later. And I always made Stephen clean them up. I guess that made him feel like the almighty hunter since there were no mice here to catch.

   No matter where he was in the house, the second he heard the blinds go up on the patio doors, he was there ready to go. Sometimes, the lizards would climb up the screens of the windows and Biscuit would go bonkers.

He loved Fancy Feast and the sound of the can opener opening up a tuna can. Chicken and shrimp were two of his favorites. He also liked the occasional Ramen noodle and banana bread. We couldn't turn our backs when we had a turkey sandwich either because he felt compelled to help himself. If we didn't give him any voluntarily, he'd be in our face or pawing our leg. Of course, anything he wanted he got.

   When we came in from the grocery store he would be waiting in the kitchen. He would inspect every bag until he found his food. Then he would love the cans by rubbing against them.

Stephen used to fill an old sock with catnip and Biscuit would spend hours rubbing his face all over it. Sometimes he was satisfied with batting around the container the catnip came in.

At Christmas, he always knew which gifts were his. He was either wrapped around them sleeping or trying to open them in the middle of the night. We would wake up to the sounds of rustling paper and know he was trying to open his gift early.

Biscuit was an all-around good cat. He never got into things or jumped on things. We could call for him and he'd come running. He stayed away from the house plants. He was a very special cat. Full of personality. You could tell what he was thinking just by looking into his big beautiful eyes. We are both missing him so much. He will always hold a very special place in our hearts.