Here, Kitty, Kitty

I've been a cat person since I was a child. When I was two, I convinced my parents to take in a stray cat that was begging for food at our door. He was an all black cat, and being a two year old, I named him Blackie. I loved that cat. Sadly, we couldn't take him with us when we moved to California when I was six.

Throughout the rest of my childhood, my parents wouldn't let me have pets. (Except for goldfish, but you can't pet a fish.) When I moved into my own apartment, stray cats started showing up. Naturally, I fed them. One of the strays was a gray tabby cat. I named him Herbert. I fed him for several months before he ran off.

Then a beautiful black cat showed up at my door. I chased her off because she was friendly and well-fed, so I assumed that she was someone's cat and didn't need the food for the strays. She kept coming back like it was some sort of game. I asked around and nobody claimed her, so I named her Ebony and took her in. When I took her to the vet for her shots, I found that she had already been spayed, so she used to be someone's cat. But in the four years I've had her, nobody has come looking for her.

Ebony doesn't like other cats very much, which is sad because I wanted to get another one so she wouldn't be home alone all day. Well, the universe granted me my wish last week.

My neighbor had an orange cat named Tuffguy. Really sweet cat who lounged around outdoors and was friendly to everyone in the complex. Recently, my neighbor had to move, and her new place doesn't allow pets. So Tuffguy needed a home. I introduced him to Ebony and they instantly hated each other. I tried again the next day with the same result. So I told my neighbor, apologetically, that I couldn't take Tuffguy.

She said ok and asked some of the neighbors to feed him. She moved and he stayed as an outdoor cat. He looked really sad and mopey for the first week after my neighbor moved. Then she came back for a visit, and the apartment manager threatened to take Tuffguy to the pound. (She didn't have a problem with him being an outdoor cat for the past year and a half, so I don't know what her deal is now.) So, I decided that I would take Tuffguy in and Ebony would just have to deal with it.

The first few days were a bit rough, but they've settled into a routine where they politely ignore one another. Tuffguy cracks me up, though. He's the funniest cat.

He's enormous, but skinny. He weighs probably 15 pounds (I'll know for sure when I take him to the vet next week), but when I pet him I can feel his ribs. He's also clumsy. The poor guy falls off of furniture and then looks stunned when he lands on the floor. And I've nicknamed him Destructo-cat because he's always knocking stuff over. Last night he knocked over a knick-knack and batted it around like a cat toy.

He started out not really liking me that much, but the other night, he serenaded me at 1 am because he wanted to play. As soon as I can teach him the difference between night and day, I think this new arrangement is going to work out.

The only drawback is that Ebony used to sleep in her pet bed. Now she has decided to sleep on top of me.