It’s been a year and a half and Buddy has grown up. He weighs 10 lbs and spends his day patrolling the grounds. He comes in and out of the cat door like he owns the joint, snacking on cat food at all hours. He knows the routine and is right there when it’s time to drink out of the hot tub or go for a walk (he likes to go along). Every time we come home, he is there to meet us in the driveway. He kept the squirrels from eating all the apples last year and dead rats/mice/gophers turn up regularly (at least part of them turn up). Our other cat, Rose, has even accepted him as part of the crew now. 
Tag Archives: Buddy
Lizard in the kitchen
Buddy Boy the cat catches lizards constantly. As a result, most of the lizards around here have really short tails. They fall off pretty easily when you grab them, and I’ve found tail tips, still writhing around on the patio. He prefers alligator lizards over the smaller, typical fence variety (maybe because their tails are tougher?). So it was easy to guess who must have brought this one inside through the cat door. It was climbing the screen, looking for a way out, while the coast was clear. We escorted him safely back out to the wild.
Buddy: Day 90
All grown up now, Buddy is curious and full of energy. Proven to be a good hunter, he has caught 1 mole, 7 mice, 1 gopher and a small garter snake so far. Every morning he hops up onto the edge of the hot tub to get a drink as I’m having my coffee, and then he and Reo chase each other around the yard. Great way to start each day!
TV Time
Buddy watches TV a lot… especially Nat Geo Wild. Today it was Origin of the Cat. He stays very focused on the show, until the commercials… then he falls asleep.
Cozy
Buddy and Rose all snuggled up together on the couch. He’s grown so much, they are the same size. They get along great when they’re asleep. When they’re awake, Buddy wants to wrestle and play. But he’s too rowdy for Rose… who hisses and runs away to hide.
Wanna play?
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Buddy really wants to wrestle around with Rose, but she’s not interested. They behave through the glass or screen door. But together, Buddy starts pawing her and Rose hisses and howls and runs away. Buddy likes to be outside most of the time, and sleeps in the garage, but soon he will figure out the cat door and Rose will have to teach him some manners. Should be interesting…
Buddy ~ Day 30
I swear his tail gets fatter every day.
It’s been 1 month since this kitten showed up on our doorstep, and we’re crazy about him. He’s been busy hunting (lizards – his current specialty). Bought him some fake mice, but they keep ending up on Reo‘s bed…covered with slobber. Found him in the garage today having his way with a recently trapped gopher that I had ‘disposed of’. He’s shaping up to be a better hunter than our current cat Rose, and just might earn his keep around here patrolling rodents.
His injured eye gets lazy when he’s relaxed.
Inspecting the fresh owl pellets – looks like a gopher skull in there.
Buddy: the new cat
He is making himself at home around here… trying on Reo’s garage dog bed for size. 
Buddy: kitten update
Our new best ‘Buddy’ is getting healthy and is really starting to play and explore like you would expect from a kitten his age (about 3 months). He’s very interested in the chickens and was checking out the dog yard while I was hanging sheets on the line. Although his weird eye is unchanged, his markings are beautiful and from the back he looks like a raccoon. I was watching him climb the oak tree and romp around, when he started stalking something. I could barely see a leaf moving on the ground and then he pounced, sticking his paw into the dirt. I checked the spot, and found a big hole. I was very excited to see him demonstrate classic gopher hunting skills at such a young age. We could really use his help controlling the varmits!
Feline – New Addition?
Our dog, Reo, was barking at something in her dog yard last Wednesday night as we were going to bed. This kitten was sitting there in the dark, bold as could be, unafraid of the barking dog. When I went outside, it ran up to me, meowing, rubbing up against my legs. Obviously tame, I thought it was one of the strays that my neighbor feeds and scooted it out of the yard and closed the gate. But it didn’t leave… I could hear it outside my bedroom window until I fell asleep, and at the crack of dawn it was at the sliding glass door. OK, this cat has obviously chosen me for some reason, so I picked him up to pet him. This poor guy was a skinny little bag of bones, beat up with a scabbed nose and injured eye (that’s his inner eye lid over his left eye). Then I saw my bottle of fish emulsion that was licked clean (yuck). Now… I don’t take in strays (especially males), but I broke down and did it… I fed him. Poor thing was starved! Biting the bowl he was trying to eat so fast. I wondered if the reason he wasn’t eating next door was that he had tangled with the tomcat that hangs out there. Our cat, Rose, had a fight with him last month and I had to take her to the vet for an abscess in her cheek. $200 and 3 visits later, I think she learned her lesson: she’s 11 years old now and not such a bad ass anymore. Maybe she would be ready to accept another cat in the family… 
Meanwhile, the kitten (I’m calling him Little Buddy by the 2nd day) and our dog Reo are best friends. He’s eating like crazy, doubled his weight over the weekend, but has bad diarrhea (and probably worms). So on Monday, we went to the vet and he got checked out. The diarrhea medicine is taking awhile to work, but he’s feeling better and making himself at home… stay tuned for more news on Buddy. 