About twelve years ago, Nancy told me she wanted to get a cat. My first reaction was to talk her out of it. I had never been what you would call a cat person. Now a dog -- that was a different story. A dog you could call a pal. I grew up with a nice Boxer -- but a cat?

I did my best to dissuade her. Two days later, when I came home from work, I saw a litter pan and some bowls of food and water sitting on the kitchen floor. I knew something was up. As I entered the living room, there they were, my soon-to-be wife and a ten-week-old calico kitten.

I'm not ashamed to say it was love at first sight. I never had a cat before and realized immediately that that was all it took. People who say they don't like cats never had one as a pet. We named her Trixie and I've never been the same since.

My first request was that we should get her a little friend. So a few weeks later, Buddy (named after Buddy Rich) arrived. Buddy was an 8-week-old grey tabby who was not much bigger than a well fed mouse. I can't say Bud and Trix loved each other as much as Nancy and I loved them, but they co-existed and even slept together when it got cold.

We now have several cats sharing our East Village apartment and I spend a good portion of each day working with stray cats. The two organizations for which I volunteer are City Critters and United Action For Animals. Both groups do amazing work for these animals -- from rescuing them off the street and providing complete veterinary care, to fostering them and finding them good homes.

If you would like to help the stray cats and dogs of New York City, please make a tax deductible donation to one or both of these organizations.

Thanks!

City Critters
P.O. Box 1345
Canal Street Station
New York, NY 10013-0877

United Action For Animals
P.O. Box 635
New York, NY 10021
Attention: Gary Kaskel