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Locals 2007

Locals 2007 - a celebration of our favorite personalities.

Steamboat Springs — Lestat the cat, also known as "Dogcat," gets invited to parties that his owners, Allen and Kathy Brandon, are not even invited to.

"But we tag along too," Allen said. "Lestat has quite a fan club. He also gets cards and letters and postcards sent to 'Dogcat', because he is so much like a dog."

Lestat was adopted from the Cheyenne Animal Shelter. He intimidated the dog and was too playful with the children in the first family he was raised with. The Brandons think he was named after author Anne Rice's character, Lestat.

"I recall in 'Interview With The Vampire', someone told me the vampire became more white after he became more nourished and drank blood," Allen said.

Lestat is a white Ragdoll cat, who likes to ride in the car and the backpack when the Brandons go hiking. He also is "quite the king of watching magpies," and plays fetch.

"He would greet you by bounding in the air and jumping into your arms," Allen said. "He would also do pirouettes and stand on his hind legs and dance around."

His neighbors are so enamored of him that Lestat received a blue leash as a gift from one of them, to match his blue eyes.

"I think it's just because people are so intrigued by him, because he's kind of like a dog," Allen said. "If he was the size of a Labrador, that would be really cool because it would fit his personality perfectly."

Lestat goes on most vacations with the Brandons, and is so personable that he often receives more attention than his owners.

"A lot of our friends, when we run into them, they ask, 'how's Dogcat?' before they even ask how we are doing," Allen said.