I have twenty cats–it’s a by-product of being a cat show judge and long time cat breeder. In the past I’ve bred Maine coons and munchkins–now I’m working with Havanas, which are much less common. They also, for the most part, look alike.

The breed is only showable in two colors: chocolate and lilac, and the lilacs are very rare. Occasionally, an unexhibitable pointed cat will turn up, but those, too, are uncommon. For the record, we’re trying to produce lilacs, but so far no luck.

So there are currently five virtually identical cats bouncing about the house. I had hoped that with time I would be able to tell them apart. Sadly no–when I want to identify a particular Havana, I reach for the microchip scanner and check the cat’s number.

The situation finally frustrated me to the point that I took a page from mapping Adventure, my very first computer game. While trying to find my way through the maze of twisty passages, all alike, the game allowed as how the rooms might look less alike if I dropped things in them . . .

So now, a herd of chocolate havanas that are less alike, thanks to some non-matching collars:

Delishadly Chocolate

And the original inspiration for it all:

advenutre map--all alike maze