My mama Judy gave me my name
when she first saw me in May, 1997 and I did not look as handsome then
as I do now. I was living by myself outside and it was spring time. My
paws were brown and muddy and my fur was matted.
My Judy only noticed me because I was coming around and peeing on her back door - I could smell the other cats in her house. I was not neutered then and I felt I had to mark all my territory that way. Judy wondered who I was and watched me but when she opened the door to say hello I was frightened and ran away.
One day she saw me poop and when she went to pick it up she saw I had tapeworms. So she asked her veterinarian for some medicine to give me to get rid of the tapeworms. She hid it in some tuna, which I find irresistible and I ate it up. Then, since I seemed to be hungry, she just kept on feeding me every night on her back step.
That's how we began to be friends. It took a long time. After I had been
eating regularly at my Judy's house for about 4 months she lured me into
a cat carrier with some tuna and shut the door. I was terrified! I clawed
and struggled to get out. Then she took me to the vet and he checked me
out and gave me my vaccinations. Judy let me back outside and I ran away
but I was back the next night for my dinner.
Judy thought she could catch me again easily but I was smart now. She tried and tried to catch me in that box but I was too clever for her. Finally she got a box made of metal called a "trap" and caught me in it. This time when she took me to the vet she left me there overnight. In the morning a human stuck me with a needle and I fell asleep. When I woke up I found the vet had stolen my testicles. They called it "neutering" and said it was a good thing.
Judy came back and rescued me from the animal hospital but this time she didn't let me back outside right away. She kept me in the house. I was scared but I also liked it. I remembered when I was a little kitten and I had lived with humans and they petted me and played with me. Sometimes I sat on Judy's lap and purred and sometimes I growled fiercely at her. Then one day she put a funny thing called a harness around my neck and tummy and tied a string onto it. Then we went outside. I thought it was my chance for freedom again and I bolted but the string would not let me go. I panicked! I struggled and wriggled. Then Judy tried to pick me up and I thought she was going to eat me for sure so I bit her really hard on both her hands. It was awful and scary. Finally the Don man put his coat over me and took me back in the house. My Judy had to go to the hospital for humans and get some medicine because of the bugs in my mouth that got into her hands.
Now I had to stay in an awful cage because Judy was scared of me and I
was scared of her. I didn't like it at all. I wanted to be outside. I
growled at the humans. After a week my Judy decided to let me go outside
again. She thought I'd come back for supper and I did but after that I
disappeared for five months! I will never tell her where I went.
All winter Judy thought about me. She wondered if I had found a home or if I had gone to heaven. She bought a stuffed cat that looks like me. Then in April of 1998 she was looking out the window when she saw me come to the back step for my dinner again. She thinks it was a miracle.
During that summer we began to be friends again. I was learning to trust her finally. I started letting her touch my cheeks while I ate my dinner. She put a collar around my neck with a message in case I had another home. She spent hours at the back screen door talking to me outside. I started listening to her and found she was not TOO scary. I started hanging around after I ate just for the company. By the end of the summer she could sit outside with me on the step while I ate and eventually I let her pet my back and head. She put the dinner bowl on her lap and I sat on her lap to eat. Then one day while she petted me I started purring. She was so happy. A couple of days later she just picked me up gently and brought me inside the house. I sniffed around a bit and then went to the door and mewed to go out and she let me out.
In the fall, when it was starting to feel like winter again she brought me in the house one day and didn't let me out. I have been here ever since. It took a while before I would come out from under the bed when anyone was around. Then I started letting Judy brush me. I really like to be brushed as I have beautiful long fur and it's a big job to do with just my tongue. Guess what I let my Judy do now? I let her brush my teeth! Can you imagine that?
I stay in the house all the time now (except when I escape and go on an adventure outside!) and I like it here. I love my Judy very much and I'm even getting used to Don who is very big and loud. I love to play with my toys and my friend Sandy the cat. I'm glad that Judy took the time to become my friend.