I first met Toast when he was smuggled home by my then 10 year old son Jameson, in his Taekwondo uniform. As a single Mom with two cats, an iguana, sugar gliders ( one hateful and insane sugar glider that hated me and constantly escaped his cage), a parakeet, hamsters and a fire belly newt, I really thought it best not to add another family member. But the little blue/grey fluff ball was so adorable and it was evident that he was not just an ordinary cat. The small kitten immediately took to my son, following him around the house like his shadow. The little guy followed Jameson so closely that Jameson feared he would step on him, so he draped him over his shoulder and pretty much that was that.

At first we thought we’d call him Shadows or Smoke, since he followed Jameson like his shadow and seemed to appear right behind you in a puff of smoke. We tried Magic for a day or two, he did seem to appear like magic, but in the end we settled on Toast because well… Toast was always in trouble so basically toast.

The kitten settled in easily with our two cats, Blackman aka BondJamesBond, a regal, quiet, mild mannered tuxedo cat and Sumo an enormous Maine Coon who was son to Blackman. (Sumo had gone through numerous name changes himself, but that’s another story)

Toast was a charmer and the smartest cat we had ever had.  As small as he was, he quickly took over as king of the household, ruling the older guys and demanding most of the attention. A gloriously mellow lover of a cat, he spent his first year or two, pretty much draped across Jameson’s shoulders like a fur stole, when he was not into some mischief. Not a particularly vocal cat but demanding nevertheless, he communicated greatly with his paws and actions, grabbing your arm, crawling onto your back, putting his paws up to be picked up and constantly finding the highest spot in the house on which to roost.