Gary the Cat.

Just before Max turned 5 in November, we got a cat. Max had a taste of cat ownership this summer when our neighbors cat took up residence on our back porch for about 2 weeks. Ever since then he has BEGGED for a kitty! The biggest hurdle to getting him a cat was this, I am highly allergic. My throat itches, I sneeze, my eyes water, etc. Not pretty. But I got to thinking, now that we have all this land, why not somehow find an OUTDOOR cat for Max to call his own? Brilliant?

Lucky enough in our old neighborhood there was a stray, loving, gray cat that seemed to live by the pool. Friends watched him for about a month. Still there. My friend, Nicole, emailed the entire neighborhood to see if he belonged to anyone. No one replied. Voila! We have our cat. We gave him to Max one morning after a basketball game and he was THRILLED!!! We bought him food, put down some blankets for him, etc. (didn't wanna invest TOO much, he might not stick around) But stick around he did... so a few days later, we bought him a cushy bed and put it in our garage. There he stayed.

Gary (named after Spongebob's pet snail who meows) is super sweet and loving. He is VERY good at catching mice. I have photos to prove it, if you're into seeing bloody carcasses. :) After sticking around for a month, and seemingly loving it here, I made an appointment with the vet. He got all vaccines and tests done mid-December. Cha-ching! $$$

He seemed like the easiest pet ever! Put out some food and water, pet him several times a day, give him shelter... he's happy! Seems our little pet is getting himself into some trouble though! Gary is currently at the vet being checked for what I term a "disgusting dime-sized open wound" on his hip that he keeps licking. He also has a hurt eye and puffy cheek. Chris is soooo irritated that Gary is costing more money at the vet! But Max LOVES having him for a pet.

The verdict is in: Gary gets in too many fights. :( He has a puffy, hurt eye and the wound on the hip was an abcess that burst and is now healing with the help of antibiotics. We have two cats that come around and fight him. One is HUGE, thus we dubbed him "Puma". Meanies! Guess we need to get him neutered. Poor Gary. Here he is, post antibiotic treatment, hugging Chris's leg.