The Outside Cat

As you may know, we have cats.  Four to be exact:

Bubba: flame point Himalayan I got as a stray (run away) about 3 years before I met Brian.  Bubba's given name is "Assissi" but I find him to be more like a bubba, sweet but a little bit slow.  He is the granddaddy of our kitties.  He is at least 13 years old but could be older.  However, the old man shows no signs of aging.

Bubba au naturale:

 

 Bubba shaved (he has to be shaved about every 6 months for his skin... at least that is what I was told):

Lucy: Orange tabby, total stray that Brian actually found online.  Lucy was my replacement cat.  My original cat, Kitty (yes, that was her name), passed away of the big "C" and Brian showed me Lucy to help me heal.  When we first got her she wanted nothing to do with us but then she came around and now she has decided she owns me.

Dumb and Dumber (aka Bella and Socks): Bella and Socks are the brother and sister cats we acquired in Texas.  They are Brian's replacement cats but the two of them only replace one cat.  However, when we went to look at Bella, Socks, and their other brother who ended up at some other house, we somehow decided that two kittens = one cat.  However, when kittens grow up they are distinctly two cats.

Socks (big brother):

Bella (little sister):

And recently we've acquired a fifth cat (mom, relax... just keep reading).  Over the summer this black and white cat showed up on our back porch.  He looks so much like Socks that we had to make sure Socks was in the house.  The main difference between the random cat and Socks was that the random cat LOVED my kids.  He would rub up against them, let them pet him, etc.  And so, like any other normal family, I named him.  And I thought long and hard about an appropriate name, one that would be unique and really capture the cat's character... I named him "Buddy".  And everyone in my family  now calls this cat Buddy.

For a while Buddy just showed up on the deck and then would go about his business.  Until... my husband (with good intentions but he didn't grow up with cats) gave Buddy a bowl of milk.  And now Buddy stops by my house a lot and keeps trying to get in.

Buddy, waiting outside for his bowl of milk:

I don't care that this neighborhood cat has decided to join us but my indoor cats care... especially Lucy who is our big bad protector.  Additionally it isn't so easy to explain to the kids why this really friendly really cute cat needs to stay outside.  That's Buddy for you.