PawPrints Photography Blog

Tiger

Here is our talent between scenes taking a catnip break . . .

Not only do these beautiful animals have very unique names, they each had a very unique past before they were brought together to live under one roof.  Here are their stories as told by their human:

Hemingway was found in a Chinese village near Hong Kong when he was small enough to fit in the palm of a woman’s hand.  His left eye was already swollen with glaucoma when I adopted him.  The vet tried to save the eye, but it had to be amputated in the end to save Hem’s life.  Hem got his name, Purrnest Hemingway, from my favorite author.  Hem lived with me in Hong Kong, with his black tabby brother, William Shakespurr, until we all moved to Washington, DC, in 2000.

William died of diabetes five years ago, leaving Hem and me heartbroken and lonely.  So we contacted the SPCA of Northern Virginia (http://www.spcanova.org/index.php), who helped us find a black tabby kitten who loved adults cats.  That was J. Purr Morgan, who by coincidence was born in a flower box only a block away from our home in Adams Morgan.  Morgan and Hem loved each other from the moment they met.

Both my parents died in January.  After the loss of the only people who could ever love me unconditionally, it seemed like exactly the right time to add a dog to our family.  Angelina Jolie Barker, named for another person I greatly admire, was rescued from a high-kill shelter in Tennessee by K-9 Lifesavers (http://www.k-9lifesavers.org/), based on Capitol Hill in DC.  We like to say that Angie is a “coal miner’s dogger.”

This is J. Purr Morgan.

And this is Angelina Jolie Barker.