CAT LIST

As a kid in the 'hood, I didn't even know anybody that had a cat for a pet. There were a few we'd see, but nobody back then liked them so we just chased them off or ignored them.

Our first cats lasted only a week or so around Halloween. They showed up when Scott was about 8. He named them Bootsey and Catsy. Somewhere we got a doghouse with a small door and thought they might like it. They went in and out, but seemed puzzled by it. We later found out that they were neighbor Julie Moore's.

Midnight was our first real cat. Black as Mac the dog, this cat was strictly outdoors. He had a personality and never roughed up the kids too much. He stopped one morning to scratch an itch and my wife backed over him in the car. We really liked that guy and were sorry he met his demise that way.

Smoky was kinda our Ginger. A non-descript, but pleasant cat that left after Spring Break one year when the food supply dried up.

Feets we inherited when our next door neighbors moved and left her. Her name was really Sweets, but I refuse to call her that and since she had 4 white feet, called her feets. Not very personable, she was always around for feeding time. A cat fight she lost cost her her life as she limped to the woods one last time and never returned. I didn't know she was hurt that badly.

Next came Joney B. Jones. A big tabby, he loved to roam. A turdy old man on Richview Road shot him in the face with a pellet gun. A hole through his right ear remained after we cleaned him up. Someone spotted him going down into a sewer, and he started hanging out with some bad cats. But he'd come home four or five times a week. I liked him. I even made up a song about him that was pretty stupid.

About the same time Herzog, an all white cat, came along. His moniker was in honor of Whitey Herzog, great Cardinal manager. He slept on Bandit's side in his dog house. Bandit didn't care, but Herzog wasn't around long. I think he had travel and adventure on his mind.

Just before Feets was our best cat ever, Cujo. He was our inside cat and when he escaped outside, he got crazy. Once back inside, he returned to normal. He had all kinds of personality, and was our kids' bud. Courtney even took him to Marion for one of her Senior picture shots. When it came time for him to be put to sleep, I gave him a bowl of strawberry ice cream before he made the trip to John Fields'. I figured it was the least I could do for him.

Miscellaneous, Moonlight Graham, Cuddles also called Scottie are our grandkittens. Fetch and Woodsie are friends' cats. But like dogs, cats are not in the picture any more for us. Our pets are now the occasional geckos that get in our house.