Elmo

Elmo is Princess's brother and, even without seeing them together side by side, the family resemblance is clear.

Marianne introduced me to him on the weekend when he was sunning himself out in the back courtyard. She warned me he could be a little shy, but he must have been satisfied with her having vetted me out, since he quite readily decided that we could be friends.

Elmo can be a little timid when it comes to other cats, I noticed, as he would back away anytime another cat tried to muscle in on his cuddle time. Leslie says this is one of the reasons he looks thinner than his sister. His coat's not as soft and shiny either, but then he doesn't have Martin grooming him Princess does.

Elmo does seem to do OK, though. Here he is with Cookie and Salty, with whom he soon after showed himself to be ease enough to enjoy a three cat cuddle as they all vied for my attention.

Cookie, Elmo, Salty

Martin

I came across Martin on a number of occasions after I started volunteering at the sanctuary, snoozing on a comfortable shelf by one of the windows in the double wide. I first really took notice of him and got a sense of the sweet old guy's personality one day when I came across him gently grooming Princess, who couldn't have been happier.

Martin treating Princess to a deluxe wash

Martin (& Princess, rear)

Here's Martin's story, from Leslie (originally published in The Love Blog, July 2009):

"Martin was found stray in Richmond and taken to the shelter we operate for the City of Richmond. Because he was an older cat with some health problems, our other shelter wasn't able to find a home for him. We are so fortunate to have our sanctuary available as a permanent home for cats like Martin who are difficult to adopt."

 Update November 6, 2010: Sad to report that this sweet old guy has now left us.