April 2000 - November 19, 2002
NAME ORIGIN
After Ulysses' wife Penelope, from Greek mythology.
Other names considered:   Embarrassingly, she was named Ulysses for about two weeks.  We were so concerned about her medical problems that we never really checked her sex and for some reason, assumed she was male.  One night, she paraded across my keyboard with her tail in the air and I discovered that the name Ulysses was not going to work...
NICKNAME(S)
*Grey Girl*, *Grey Gal*, Chameleon Hands, The Velvet Sausage. The first two, of course, were because of her color.  Chameleon Hands was because she had extra toes, which made her front paws resemble a chameleon's hands somewhat, and The Velvet Sausage was in reference to her wonderful, velvety coat and her rather plump physique.
DATE OF BIRTH
April 10 (?), 2000
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Penelope was a petite, if somewhat plump, cat and was quite solid and heavy for her size.   Her velvety coat had the most beautiful silver sheen to it, which in some light conditions, looked almost lavender.  It was very thick and plush too, and when we petted her, we left finger marks in her fur.  Russian and British Blue cats are bred to have this sort of coat, so I have to wonder if she had some Blue blood in her background.
She was missing her left eye (see Medical Conditions), but that didn't impair her cuteness one bit.  She was also a polydactyl cat, meaning she had extra toes.  Most cats have five toes on the front paws and four on the back paws, but Penelope had seven in front and five in back.  (Polydactylism is fairly common in cats and is not necessarily the result of inbreeding.)
MEOW
When traveling to the vet, she was capable of emitting loud, somewhat Siamese-sounding meows, but  her everyday meow was an extremely high-pitched, kitten-like little squeak.  She didn't talk all that much, though she did sometimes converse with the other cats.  When carrying a toy in her mouth, she tended to say "Mrrrrp? Mrrrrp?  PEEP! PEEP! PEEP!  to no one in particular - loudly enough that Chris once mistook her for the smoke alarm.
PURR / BISCUITS
Purr:  A moderately loud, pleasant-sounding rumble.  She purred whenever someone petted her.
Biscuits:  She made very vigorous biscuits, but in spite of all the extra toes, they somehow never hurt.  
HISTORY
Thirteen days after Arlo arrived, Chris left to take the dogs on a short walk while I got ready for work.  He returned just a few minutes later, announcing that he'd found a sick kitten.  He found her in the same spot he'd found Arivaca, and she was obviously a member of the same feral group of cats; in fact, it's likely Penelope and Arivaca were related.  We used to see Penelope's beautiful, silver-grey mother hunting in our yard, but we stopped seeing her not long after we adopted her baby.
PERSONALITY
Although very sweet and cuddly with me, Penelope usually enforced a "No Touching" policy when it came to Chris, for some reason.  Cautious and a bit wary, she tended to run and hide when visitors came over.
Petting her was usually enough to send her into a fit of ecstasy, involving much writhing around, purring, and making "air biscuits."  She was very playful, and if no one else would play with her, she happily played by herself, most often batting a ball of wadded-up aluminum foil around the house and peeping as she carried it in her mouth from place to place. 
When she was a baby, she got very excited at feeding time, spinning in little circles and grabbing at the dish with her hands.  She also made the most peculiar puffing/spitting sound while the food was being served.  I've never heard a cat do this before, and it was definitely not a hiss.  Later in her life she grew out of that habit, but remained very enthusiastic about food.  
MEDICAL CONDITIONS
Severe eye infection / perforation; Feline Leukemia; mediastinal lymphoma.  See Details.
HOBBIES / INTERESTS
Playing with just about anything; carrying toys around in her mouth; watching wild birds; sleeping in sunbeams; playing in the yard; curling up with other cats; sitting in my lap and gazing earnestly up at me with her one little eye; and eating (she loved food).
FRIENDS
Penelope was very cat-oriented and got along well with everyone.  For some reason, even the older cats tolerated her when she was little.  She was closest to Arlo, Andromeda, Tamerlane, and - oddly enough - Irene, who usually loathes young cats.  She seemed to have a crush on Orion.  
SCARED OF THE VACUUM CLEANER?
Cautious, but not terrified.