Donald Ham 🏳️‍🌈 🐱🏋️‍♂️donaldham@mstdn.social

Aug 21, 2026, 9:32 PM

Our family has its own "Circle of Life" history with the cats we have known, loved, and cared for over the years.

Celeste was the first, from the no-kill Tree House shelter in Chicago in 1998. She had a long and happy life. When she passed soon after we moved from Florida to California, Jellybean came to us as a kitten from Whiskers, Tails, and Ferals in Napa in 2013. Now, 13 years later, baby Kate curls up with her for the first time.

#CatsOfMastodon

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and Celeste, when she helped me work at the dining table in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in about 2005 or so. She is a little gray and white cat, sitting next to my right elbow while I'm at a laptop. Since it's about 20 years ago, I have WAY less gray in my beard and hair. My reading glasses are propped on my head, and Celeste has a happy expression on her face. Photo by my friend Jeff. If you're in Chicago, #TheTreeHouse shelter is well worth your support, that's where we adopted Celeste.

The two current generations of cats in our home have adopted each other enough that baby Kate decided to hang out with big sister Jellybean. Bean is in front, a very chubby short-haired calico cat. Right behind her, Kate is curled up and looking at the camera. Especially by comparison, Kate is a little kitten and likely will be a pretty small cat when she grows up. She is dark gray and light gray tabby stripes with a cream-and-gray spotted tummy. As one Mastodon friend mused: "Will she grow into her tail?" To which I add, "will she grow into those big ears?!" They are on a faux-lambswool throw on a light gray plaid armchair, with a bank of three windows behind them.