Tocchet

Tocchet (Tock-it) was born March 17, 1992 in my daughters' closet. His Momma Cheyenne was pregnant when she came to us. She was very young, and Tocchet was the only one of the four to survive the first week. His original name was Tom Kitten (after my fiance), but we gave him his own name after that first week when we decided to keep him. The name comes from then-Pittsburgh Penguin hockey player Rick Tocchet. It was our favorite team, and he looked a little like a penguin. Tocchet was hit by a car and broke his leg when he was about a year old, and has been nicknamed the 'Bionic kitty' since then, due to a steel plate the vet put in his leg. He was up and running just a couple days after surgery! He was quite the hunter in his younger days, always bringing me birds, mice, rabbits and squirrels. He gave all that up when he was about 10, and was content to sleep on the back deck all day until we made him an indoor cat 2 years ago. Now his outdoor adventures are supervised, and he hasn't challenged the 6 foot fence since we moved in to our new house last year. Tocchet has always been a pretty laid back guy. He has welcomed the kittens my daughters brought in to the house, almost keeping the peace between them and his Momma who wanted no part of them. After Cheyenne went to the bridge and the girls moved out with their cats, Tocchet and I were a little lost until Lemieux and Ariel came along. Now he is King Kitty and lets them know it. His main duty in life is protecting me when I sleep, making sure the young ones don't attack me until HE gets hungry. -Ann M.