Born:  c. September 29, 2002

In the fall of 2002, my friend John Kovalic (who has volunteered for Dane County Humane Society (DCHS) with his artwork) put a plea on his fan e-list:  Please consider being a foster parent for DCHS;  they have too many cats!  I e-mailed my husband, Brian, and soon we volunteered.  In December, we brought home this very shy and once feral cat with the instructions to socialize him.  We had to spend time with him, hold him and pet him, and acclimize him to being around people.  In general, just love him.  When I asked him what his name is, I had an image of the actor and comedian Harry Anderson, so I named him Prince Harry; but I tell people he was named after my late grandfather Harold Lord, not the kid from Wales.

The hard part was when DCHS staff told us to give Harry back - two days before Christmas.  Well, you can't tell my husband to love a cat, then give him back.  Brian really bonded with Harry, even purchasing the kitty a Christmas present.  I tried to reason with Brian, but when he e-mailed "I want to keep him;  I love him.", I knew I lost.  In true foster parent fashion, we adopted the first cat we fostered. 

Harry loved to play with his older sister Lunch, who kept up with him despite being 12 years his senior;  and he was a great playmate to Salem and Sierra, two more cats we fostered for a time, who went to an excellent home in Middleton, Wisconsin.  Harry exasperated his oldest sister Goober (14 years his senior) by plopping down next to her when she was trying to sleep.  Goober reluctantly bathed him when he did this. 

After Lunch died, we bought Harry the best present ever:  a baby brother named Widget.  Now the two boys are inseparable.  Harry has a hard time with his energetic sister Gleep, especially because he is front declawed and she isn't, but we've discovered them playing together on more than one occasion.  Harry has to wrassle and play on his back with his feet up because of the declawing.

Click here for more photos of Harry.