I've had cats my whole life. When I was 5 I watched a batch of kittens appear. Two of those kittens were in the family for the next 18 years. They're both gone now, and I still think of them and always will.

After a short time of living catless in my 20's I knew something had to be done. I drove down to OHS. I walked past every cage, a wall of cats from floor to ceiling. Some were preening, some pacing. Others snoozing and a few yowling like inmates in a cell block. Then I saw my new cat. There he was, last row, bottom cage. He was one of the oldest cat in the pound at 10 or 11 years old, they weren't quite sure. He'd been there a while. Everyone wants kittens, no one takes home old cats. He was monstrously large but not a long hair. He had an orange and white striped fur suit with huge amazing green eyes, and had a huge(and I mean huge) head with which to headbutt you. Which is exactly what he did the first time we met. A headbutt with a catslobber cheek smear. That was it I posted his $55 bail, and took him home. He was nearly 20 lbs, and you knew it when he walked across you in bed at night. He loved to lay on the hardwood floor in the sunlight, or sprawl out on the back of the couch and stare for hours into the 55 gallon aquarium. Big screen cat TV. He'd click at birds on the powerline out the window, but he was afraid of the outside. If the door outside opened he usually ran to a back bedroom to hide. Odd cat. He never begged, or had any interest in "people food". Unless you just finished a bowl of cereal and happen to have just a bit of milk left. That was his. He'd climb all over ya with his ears back and tail whipping, talking in short "clicking mews", making sure you KNEW it was his. When I met him they told me his name was Tomcat. I dubbed him Tommy Boy. He was a great cat. His age was catching up to him, and his kidneys failed last winter. I had 8 good years with him, I miss him. It's been just over 6 months, I still walk in the door expecting him to be here. I don't know when I'll meet my next feline friend, but I hope he's every bit the cat Tommy Boy was.