CJ

This little guy showed up at my house the spring after I brought Sally and Sammie in my house. I have a suspicion that it was him that kept beating Sammie up.

I've tried not to love him, but have miserably failed. I finally gave him a name, CJ. One day a guy I work with came to my house to help me trim some hedges/do other yard work, and CJ hissed at him when he saw him. Now CJ liked my mother and my neighbors, but not Cory for some reason. So, I named him Cory, Jr. or CJ for short.

This little guy loves to help me when I work in the yard. He greets me every morning/evening. I have the heated cat pad on the porch for him. I've got to get him neutered- soon.

He disappears every now and then, sometimes for a day, sometimes more. But last week he was gone for a week. I even went to MAS to look for him. My brother went with me for moral support. We saw the sign that said you have to pay $80 to "spring" a lost pet from the "joint." My brother asked me if I would have paid it, to which I replied, "yeah, I would have." He laughed and said, "well, you can deny it all you want, but he's your cat."

I guess he is. I was so relieved to see him yesterday morning. I ran outside and picked him up and hugged him. He played it cool, and after tolerating me fussing over him for a minute, demanded to be put back down so he could continue eating his breakfast.

SIGH- these cats. How boring my life would be without them.

Sammie

Within a few months of Mr. Buddy's disappearance, a new man came into my life- Sammie, or SamWise Gamgee, or Gammie, or Gam Gam.

He is obviously a relative of Buddy, going by his markings. There is a whole colony of cats in my neighborhood. Sigh. I've "fixed" a few, but still have a long way to go.

Anyway, he took up residence with Sally on the porch. He is truly a sweet little guy. During the summer, he got deathly ill, and I took him to the vet. He had a parasitic infection and could have died. After getting him treated, he began to gain weight and look gorgeous.

I took him in to have him neutered. After that, he got in about three fights with other cats, which resulted in vet visits, medication, etc. (He's not a good fighter.)

The night Sally got run off the porch, he did too. So, I brought him in as well. His integration has not gone as smoothly as Sally's. He's still in the office where Jacob lived for so long. He was able to be left out unsupervised for awhile, but one day he started fighting viciously with my boys, especially Jacob, so that is why he's still on supervised sojourns into the household only.

He follows me around like a puppy, literally. He sticks his tongue out and drools on me when he purrs.

The last few weeks he's been able to stay out for quite awhile and we've had no altercations. He's learning to just walk past the other cats in a non-confrontational way. So, I have hope that he's close to being able to come out full-time again. If he will quit fighting with Jacob it will happen sooner. Jacob tears him up- Sammie has a couple of scars on his nose. My little New Orleans kitty "don't play."

I haven't 'fessed up to Dr. Ledbury about bringing those two cats indoors, and it's been over a year. I think he's figured it out, but we don't acknowledge THAT elephant in the room. We had agreed that I would stop at SIX.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA....

On a serious note? I'm done with eight. I truly cringe at the thought of bringing any more in the house. I wouldn't change a thing, but some days I do feel like all I do is scoop poop, fill food/water bowls, and pet cats. I think I even pet them in my sleep.

I'm not complaining though!