Today is the one year anniversary of Hunter (aka's Widget, Houdini, Baby Boy, Brat Cat, Brat Boy, Little One, Sleepy-bye Kitty and Pudgcicle) moving in with Chloe and me.

Some of your may remember that he had been abandoned by tenants in my building after they had been evicted. He had been literally put out on the street. I hadn't seen him for a while then one morning, while taking Chloe for her walk, his little head popped up from under some plants in this meditation garden across the street from our building (it's slightly bigger than the picture shows and it's been cut back quite a bit for the season).



I found myself buying cat food and making sure I brought some on our walks so that he'd have something to eat. I'd sneak him inside when it rained. The landlord really didn't want him in the house after he found that the vacated apartment was crawling with fleas . I'd keep tabs on him and continued to sneak him in when the weather got bad.

At the end of last September it seemed that it didn't just rain, it poured! He was soaked and looked pathetic. I kept sneaking him in and trying to make a case for him being allowed back in. I contacted Chloe's vet about having him checked out and de-flea-ed. Then advocated for him again. Got the green light for him to move in.

Fortunately Chloe and Hunter got along before he moved in. It's been difficult for him not to be outside all the time as he was before. He's my other perfectly imperfect pet. He developed a habit of spraying my bedroom door. I've gotten to the point where I can recognize most of the behaviors that lead up to that (and I've been using a spray to help combat the problem) so that behavior has been diminishing. He's a bottomless pit with food and will steal some of Chloe's (usually the home cooked stuff) if she's not looking. He's not a lap cat but he has been increasing his requests for attention and a little stroking. He's got a ton of cat toys but prefers to do battle with rubberbands and shredding paper. His scratching post is shredding and he hangs upside down from it. He hates the car so trips to the vet are a challenge (yesterday's was so anxiety provoking that he had an accident in the cat carrier. The car has only so many windows that open to air it out. If I could've punched a hole in the roof I'd have done it, rain & all.)

He loves lying in wait for Chloe then pouncing on her (which she tolerates amazingly well), his weight has gone up (and is now in a healthy range), his flea-borne issues are resolved. He loves sitting in windows and knows how to open the back door (he had let himself out several times before I figured out how he did it.)

(Here he is none too pleased that Chloe and I snuck outside without him)


(Engaging in his favorite activity)


(His special treat for his special day)


I never considered myself much of a cat person but I can't imagine our lives without him now.