During the winter of 1995, when we lived in Omaha, a pure white cat was observed hanging about our neighbors deck. They sometimes put food out for him and told us that they thought he was living under the deck. We saw him once in awhile in our back yard. During this time Fluffy (see "In Memoriam") was living out on our back deck in a wooden house I built. It had a dog house heater in it and she seemed quite content to spend the cold winter nights in the house. The white cat, who we named Snowball, chased Fluffy out and took the house over for his own use. We quickly obtained a commercial dog house and outfitted it for Fluffy. So the winter passed. The two of them seemed to get along quite well as we would see them sleeping in the sun on the deck. Snowball seemed to like Fluffy as he followed her around.

Snowball got the requisite trip to the vet to make sure he was healthy. The vet seemed to think he was about 1 to 2 years old. The next winter Fluffy was in the house. So we let Snowball live in the garage. The next summer, Snowball was again an outdoor cat. As luck would have it, he apparently got into a fight which left his back leg badly mauled. Another round with the vet helped heal his wounds. During this time Nancy tended to his leg wound and this left a lasting impression. To this day Snowball doesn't like Nancy and runs from her if she tries to pick him up. By this time it became apparent that Snowball would not do well as an outdoor cat so we decided to bring him inside.

At this time we also had Patches, Cuddles and Fluffy (see "In Memoriam"). As you might expect, even with a gradual introduction, Patches and Cuddles were not especially thrilled with another cat in the house. There was some initial fighting and marking of territory but that seemed to settle down once each cat found some space that they could call their own. And we had to be sure that our attention was divided among them. If we were gone for a couple of days we heard about it when we returned. Especially from Cuddles. She seemed to be telling us about every little thing the others had done while we were away.

Snowball was low cat in the house and remained that way when we moved with Patches, Cuddles and Snowball from Omaha to Long Lost Lake. When both Patches and Cuddles had left us Snowball gained the title of topcat. He has remained in that position during the acquisition of Gabby and Whiskers. Snowball has gained a little weight during the last few years even though we try to watch what he eats. He tends to search out other cats food so we have to remain vigilant.

Now Snowball divides his time between eating, sleeping and sitting in David's lap. He has his favorite sock that he carries around wherever he goes. It is a major catastrophe if it ever gets lost and he mopes around until it's found. Snowball also loves catnip mice. It is his favorite toy and will spend a lot of time licking and playing with them.