Gus

Gus was the link between our obliging indoor/outdoor cats and our current dictatorial cat. Shortly after Trenton lost his war with the neighborhood, Gus disappeared for a week. Just when we had chalked up another win for the coyotes, he dragged himself up to our doorstep, skinny and broken. He had been hit by a car, and for the most part, was manuevering via his front legs. We shuddered to think how many days it took him to find his way back, how many bushes he must have hidden in, and just how hungry he had to be. But he was home. He had struggled to bring himself back to us. Chalk one up for the scaredy cat.

We spent more to get that cat back to good health than we had ever spent on our kids, medically speaking, and it was a long process. He was so skinny, that we let him eat as much as he wanted, which is the way we ended up with a 25 pound cat. He got so fat that he looked like he was stuffed with gerbils, and we were crazy about him.