Coco came into my life when she was five weeks old in November 2000 when my housemate at the time had decided to foster two kittens,littermates. She was told they had been found in a backyard at two weeks old, whether they were dumped or had strayed from their mother, we'll never know. I helped her look after them and I became quite attached, so not having the heart to separate them, or choose just one, I adopted both kitties, which my housemate and David paid for as Christmas gifts, and I named the boy Groucho (as in Marx because he had thick eyebrows) and the girl Coco (as in Chanel, because she was petite and dainty).
Sadly Groucho was killed by a car in August 2001 and Coco became my constant companion in the highs and lows of the next year and a half, until I emigrated in March 2003. I had initially planned for her to join me, as the UK participates in the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS), but by the time I was settled, and had the money to bring her over, she and my mother became very attached to each other, and it would be unfair to both to separate them now.
David and I adopted two kittens, once again littermates, from friends in September 2005, and named the girl Madam Xiao Mao (Xiao Mao is Mandarin Chinese for small cat, and she could fit in the palms of our hand even at 13 weeks), and the boy Neo (as in the Matrix, because he did the most amazing acrobatic jumps, and also as David put it "cute but dumb"!)
I am sad to report that Neo disappeared in February 2008,
and hasn't been sighted since. Madam is keenly missing him and the other
members of her "pride" no longer with us (our housemates two cats, one
of which also disappeared in September 2007, the other being killed by a
car in March 2008). We would like to get her a kitten to beat
up for company, but we are going to wait until we move to a
quieter road.
Updated 10th of April, 2008.