The cats of the house - Petey

Petey is my middle "child", the beta cat of the house. Sometimes, though, he pretends to be the alpha cat. He came into my home back at my previous house, in 2005. Petey was adopted by a young family from the Humane Society. He first came into my life one rainy night in October of 2004. I was standing on my front porch and spotted this little cat out in the torrential down pour, in my front yard. I was able to lure him to me and pick him up. He didn't like that and struggled to flee my "evil" clutches. He did escape, but I was able to retrieve the little tag he wore on his humane society issued collar. It had a number on it. I called the local Humane Society, hoping to get contact info or to leave my contact info so that his new "parents" could be contacted. Sadly (but probably not) I reached an exchange and was not able to get or give any information. I didn't see him for a while after that.

At that time, I lived on a lot with two houses. My good friends lived in the other house. Our backyards (or the space masquerading as backyards) was connected, and we would spend many a day and night out there sitting at the table talking, eating, drinking, reading tarot cards, with music playing. It was just a blast living so close and sharing a yard. The neighborhood cats would generally swing by for a visit, running through the yard, playing with and chasing each other. Not only would the neighborhood cats, but also the local wildlife. As a rule, we had regular visits from skunks, possums and raccoons.

One such night, these wacky neighborhood cats thought it would be fun to chase the baby skunks around while we were all sitting out at the table. Well, us human-folk didn't think that was such a good idea but could not distract the cats. Finally, my sister announced she was turning in for the night and left the table. The animal and wildlife seemed to go "home" as well, and at some point, I decided to turn in myself. When I went into the house, my sister was sitting on the couch watching TV. She told me to look at the chair in the living room. I couldn't believe my eyes. There was Petey, the neighbor's cat, comfy and stretched out, sleeping on the chair. She told me that when she opened the door to go in, he was at her heels and walked right in, making himself at home! He never left after that.

Petey is not shy. He has no problem rubbing up against anyone, whether he knows them or not, if he wants food. Nor does he have any problem with using the cat box in the presence of strangers! He is such a sweet, vocal and animated guy. He was named Petey when he wandered in and I decided to keep that name. Mid 2005, my landlord told me I would have to move as they were selling the property. I knew without a doubt, I would take him with me, although, for months I was feeling kind of guilty knowing that his first family lived two houses away and probably missed him and didn't know what happened.

The landlords' realtor came in to photograph the houses on the lot. The not shy Petey found his way into some of the photos that ultimately ended up on the fliers advertising the houses. A few weeks before the actual move (oddly, another rainy day), Petey's first "mom" came over. I was shitting bricks. She saw his picture on the flyer and knew we were moving. She wanted to make sure we were taking him with us and not abandoning him. She told me that after moving in, she hired workers to remodel her house and then went on a vacation, leaving Petey home. Maybe he didn't like that as he is a very social cat and likes his people's attention. It is rare that he doesn't sleep on his "special" blanket on the bed.

Petey is a very lovable guy, as is Louie, and such a bright spot in my life. My friends come to visit and threaten to take him home with them. I won't allow that, no matter how they try to accuse me of stealing him! He, too, is a joy and a creative inspiration for me. He was the inspiration for my "guitar cat" series.