Cleocatra Stracke

Cleocatra, a.k.a. Cleo was an Ocicat, a unique breed unto their own. We bought Cleo from Purrfurdots Ocicats in Waynesboro, PA when she was just 4 months old in 1999. She was a New Year's Day kitty.

We went there from our home in Maryland with the thought that we knew we wanted an Ocicat as we had done some research on this particular breed. We also were planning to purchase one cat from this breeder.

My daughter, who also made the trip with us, spotted an adorable spotted kitty peaking out from his area where he sat. We new we had to get him, (yes, he was a boy) as he was just so inquisitive and cute!

We placed him in the cat carrier which we brought with us. Out of the blue came another kitty (a female) and she sat on top of the carrier, her strong will coming out even then.

After giving it some thought financially, we decided we were also going to purchase her as well. We realized that they would give each other company, since we both worked outside the home.

So, in goes the girl kitten into the same carrier. It was then that we found out the unique bond that they had-they were half siblings! Ozzie (as we named our boy kitty) and Cleocatra (as we named our girl kitty) had the same sire AND they were both born on the same day, January 1, 1999.

Cleocatra was very strong willed... she was not getting off the carrier! Also, Cleo was very strong physically, routinely leaping to the top of our wall unit piece of furniture. Oci's are an athletic breed. Even when Cleo developed lung cancer, she made one last valiant effort to the top of the wall unit. We lost our precious girl on February 12, 2011.