I can't remember a lot about the first 6 weeks of my life. Since there are some things that seem very familiar to me, I figure they were important to me in those early weeks. For example, I like denim, prefer to drink water from a glass, love paper and any type of crunchy bag, enjoy wrestling with shoes, relish getting into the trash, and I love to patrol in the woods with my watcher.

I recall being on the "streets" Haloween night. I like kids and people in general. There were a bunch of kids trick or treating so I fell in with them and went to a few houses with them. Well, I was hungry. I sort of liked this one house, so I went into the living room and cuddled up there. When the troop I was with was leaving, the woman of the house asked if I belonged to any of them, to which the answer was no. So, I stayed.

After a few days the woman told her boyfriend that he should take me to his house in the woods because the city was no place for a cat and she couldn't keep me there. The woman's boyfriend took me to his house and gave me some cat food. The plan was for me to be an oustide cat and live under his deck. So, at eight weeks, there I was, living outside again. It was cold that first night, but the second was colder still. This was no fun. I like to have fun and I was sort of frightened of the noises at this new place.
The next day I heard the boyfriends next door neighbors. I let out a few pathetic kitten mews, walked over to the woman neighbor, and turned on my charm. She told a man with her they had a visitor. I did a few tricks, purred, and snuggled them. They seemed to like me. I heard the woman comment that they knew a kitten would come along eventually to replace their last cat who had died. Before long I was in their house getting a good meal. This was great, warmth and security. When they realized I probably belonged to their neighber they talked to him and he let me adopt them. So here I am.
I will have updates weekly and pictures of my adventures. If this interests you, visit from time time. Like all cats, I can be interesting.

At first the people I lived with didn't let me go outside. There were three of them. A man person, a woman person, and the man person's mother who was an older person. They were always giving me attention, playing with me, giving me toys, and telling me how beautiful I was. I remembered being outside and I missed it. Before I lived with these people I lived outside under the neighbors porch. I could see things from the windows in the house that gave me the urge to be out in the woods. I wanted to explore. From observing the persons, I knew that round thing on the door made it open. So I made it a point to sit on the bench next to the door and slap that round thing. I would also make pathetic sounds while I did it. After doing this a couple of days the man person took me outside. It was great. There were plenty of trees to climb and new stuff to sniff. There were things moving in the air, in the trees, on the ground, and in the ground. Beside that, in the far back there was a big swamp. The man person my Watcher) would always walk with me and get all excited when I did something he thought I shouldn't. I knew he was really angry when he yelled in what sounded like bad Japanese. Usually I just ignored him and went on about my sniffing, exploring, and watching him jump around yelling. We went out every day in the morning and every afternoon after eating.
I love the swamp. There are trees knocked sideways to climb on, big holes in stumps to go in, holes in trees to explore, and all kinds of critters to terrorize. I especially like to chase after those big tree mice with the fuzzy tail. I would follow them all over. I guess the man got tired of my paying no attention to his shouting at me back in the swamp. He started to carry this bag with him that he opened when I ran off after something. The kicker event was probably the day I looked back and saw him slopping through the mud up to his ankles, shaking his fist and speaking bad Japanese. It was enough to make a cat laugh. After that comical event, when I kept moving away from him and his calls, he would open the bag, take something out, and make a spark. Something would fly and fizz over me and in front of me. Then it would explode making an awful sound. I do not like loud noises. When he did that I would take off running back toward our house. After he did that for three days, I decided to turn around when he called so he wouldn't use the noise. I still love it out side, but there is nothing in the swamp that isn't in the woods around our house. Now I go out whenever I want, stay in the nearby woods, and the man person doesn't have to do as many funny things. Every now and then though I have to do something to get him to perform.

I spy on everything. I patrol my territory many times a day. I always stay close enough to where I live so that I can see my house. My Watcher usually takes a walk with me every day. I come in every evening, in the summer, at about 8:00 o'clock and sleep until about 4 the next morning. Of course I make my rounds in the house too, making sure everything is in order. I go into the person's bedroom and sleep with them for a while every night, it gives them security. Then, I wake the man person (my Watcher) up to let me out at 4:00 o'clock. I like routine and follow my schedule religiously.
One morning after I had been patrolling for about 2 hours, I spied something I hadn't seen before. It looked like a bird except it was big and real ugly. Birds are usually noisy, little, cute creatures who are sincerely hyperactive. They are always jumping around looking for straw or bugs and making messes on things. This critter I saw was not little. He was right out in the middle of a clearing making a short, loud, clucking sound. I figured I could take him, cause I'm a cat. So, I proceeded to sneak up on him and stalk him. He seemed to be moving to a larger open area behind a clump of trees, I followed him. When he moved into the open area behind the trees he turned toward me and his tail feathers flew out like a hugh fan. His neck was very long and he stood very tall. There were these red, dangly things hanging of off his head. Then he let out a series of loud "gobbles" as though he were yelling at me. After that I heard many gobbles. Looking behind him I saw dozens of these ugly feather bearing giants and none of them looked very happy to see me. At that point I decided I would need a larger set of claws to deal with that horde, so I turned around and did the "slink" back to the house.
Of course, as I got near to the house I heard my Watcher roaring in laughter. He laughs a lot, but we all know how silly people can be around a cat. Later that day I went back to the scene of the confrontation. When I returned to the house, the man and woman were sitting outside. I carried a big black, and grey feather back with me and gave it to them. Neither of them laughed this time. I put a smug look on my face as they sat and wondered. I'm Buffy Cat.

First of all, I usually spend the night in the people's house. I have been known to spend the night outside, especially when there is a full or bright moon. If you read the first part of my diary you remember I spent the night outside before I adopted the people I live with now. The night can get cold and scary. I heard stuff back in the swamp that not even I would want to mess with.

My day starts at about 4:00 am. I wake one of them up by singing for a couple minutes. I have a very high voice and it seems to get their attention by the second verse. They call it "cat opera." One of them walks me out with a flashlight; sometimes they both come with me. The morning is usually cool and quiet. It is easy to hear things in the woods and on the ground; it is a great time to spy. If it is raining or there is a thunderstorm, I take a few hours off from my patrolling and start the day later. I stay in the area the man person and I took walks in when I was a kitten, there are plenty of things that need my attention in those 3 acres.

I patrol until about 7:00 am when the people get up. One of them will come out and whistle for me or call my name. I am hungry by this time and look forward to breakfast. When I come in the door I always put out my front paws and stretch. One of the people will pet my back, rub my chin, and scratch my head after I do this. I think people like to rub on a cat, so I let them do this as I make my way to my food and water. I usually stop 2 or 3 times on my way so they get satisfied. One of them gets me fresh water in my mug. I don't like water out of a bowl, there could be something beneath the surface so I have to splash in a bowl to make sure it is safe. With a glass or a mug I can see through the sides and the water level is a better height for me to drink. They do a good job with the food situation.

After breakfast I go back outside. I have taught them how to speak cat well. They understand easily what I want. When I jump up on the bench beside the door they know I want out. If they are in another room, I go in and sing a few notes to let them know I need to go out. I make my usual rounds in the afternoon and come back for a snack about 2:30. If the morning is busy I take a nap in one of my favorite sleeping places, I have a lot of them. Usually one of the people will come out and take a walk some time during the day. We play a game they call "pounce". One of them hides behind a tree and I sneak up on them and pounce standing on my back legs with my front legs extended. They like to do this too so I humor them. It is a full time job being a cat.

By 7:30 pm I am ready to go in for the evening. I am tired from the days work by that time. I eat my dinner, and then go into the man's room. He puts a big thick sock on his arm and we wrestle for about 5 minutes. He is sort of like a sibling to me; he does cat stuff sometimes and likes to play. This really tires me out and I find another one of my favorite sleeping places to settle down for a snooze. In the evening it is usually in the room where the people watch the picture thing, there is a great leather chair in there to sleep in.

When they go to bed the woman person takes me in with her and I snuggle up beside her until she goes to sleep. I have been doing this since I have lived here and she is like a mother figure to me. She seems to like it and it gives me security too, my instincts tell me that this reminds me of something I did when I was very young. After she is sleeping I get something else to eat and settle down in the big green chair in the living room until about 4 am when I start the entertainment and a new day. There are always interesting things to see and do if you are a cat. I'm Buffy Cat.

It seems that the man and woman persons have a kid person. He came back to the area when he got a new job. He had to stay with them for two weeks until his place to live was ready. That was OK, he was a nice person, but he had a friend who came with him and stayed in my house. I hadn't consented to that and it was not OK.

I found out about this while I was patrolling inside. He was living in the den. I knew there was something wrong because I smelled food in there and it wasn't my flavor. So I walked in cautiously and looked around. Then I saw him, he was a big, black cat with yellow eyes. I hadn't seen a grown up boy cat before and I was very curious. He just sat in a chair and looked at me as I strutted up to where he was. I was expecting him to react in some way but he got this silly, sloppy look on his face and sort of shied away a little. That didn't make a girl feel very good. It couldn't be because I am ugly. My people tell me I am beautiful all of the time. And I work out every day chasing squirrels, birds, lizards, snakes, bugs, rabbits, turkey, chipmunks, mice, and just about anything else that moves. So what's not to like about me? I am sleek and shinny and could show him a good time. But he just sat there looking.

I wasn't sure what to do either, but he was just plain dense. I remember once the man and women persons had been watching some jungle show on the TV. It was about these lions, so I did the same things the girl lion did when she was trying to get the attention of the boy lion. First, I walked over to the chair and stood on my hind legs to get a better look at him. We sniffed each other and he backed off some. That did it. I was trying to be nice and he insulted me again. I hauled off and slapped him a good one right across the face. He got a real surprised look on his face, so I slapped him again. Then, I got down on the floor and rolled over so he could see all of me. I even showed him my under parts. He looked at me like I had two heads. He may have been cute but he needed to work on his social skills. That was the best experience we had together.

After our first meeting I would go in and harass him every day. Of course I always managed to slap him a couple times, and I even gave him a second chance to make up by rolling over for him again. I went to more drastic measures to get his attention. I sniffed his food out and it smelled OK, so I tasted some. It wasn't as good as mine but I ate it anyway, actually I made a dog of myself and really chowed down. He just watched me; talk about a deer in the headlights look. That sort of thing went on for days.

Then I found his litter box. They had it hidden in the closet, but my nose knows. I sniffed it out and confirmed that he was marking territory that was mine. So I did what any self respecting cat would do to reclaim it. As he watched, I dug a nice hole in the litter box, squatted, and let go a nice releiving pee. Then I slowly covered it up, smelled it once, and swung my rear and tail as I walked out of the room. He should have known better than to insult a girl.

One day I went in to torment him and he was gone. There was no sign of him. His food and water were gone. His litter was gone. Every sign of him was gone except his essence. I do not need a companion. I have people. Another cat would just be competition for affection and comforts. I have my domain and there isn't room for that big, black cat around here. But, I still check that room every day to reassure myself.

One of the things I noticed, since I have been living here, was the regular harsh noise coming from across the far side of my territory. After I became familiar with things close to the house, I ventured to the general area of these annoying sounds. I flattened myself close to the ground in the low shrubbery and couldn't be seen. That is when I got my first look at the cause of all the unnecessary noise.
There were these two short legged, long haired, small dogs that most closely resembled floor mops. Since then, I have heard the man person call them "shiddy sues" or something like that. There they were yapping repeatedly in a high bark like they there trying to see who could out yap the other. When something passed on the front road, they took off running like they were going to bite its tire or something. While they were running toward the passing car, the front running "yapper" got to a particular point in the yard, squealed a short yap, and jumped into the air. It was like he ran into something. The other one stopped and looked at him. I thought it was humorous. I noticed, that for some reason, they couldn't go past a certain point all the way around their yard without doing the "flip and squeal."
The little gremlins are not out all the time. Once, when I noticed they were not around their yard, I walked over and sniffed the place out good. After I was finished I found a good place to leave my scent. I usually dig a hole and cover up that sort of thing, but I wanted them to know I had been here. So, I backed up to a tree close to where they hang out and sprayed it. I didn't even have to sniff the area; I knew I had soaked it good. Then I saw the man person watching me and I walked over to let him rub my face and neck. He likes to do that. While he was giving me a good face rub, I heard the shrill sound of the decibel dueling duo. I walked over to a fallen tree on the ground at the edge of my domain and stretched low sharpening my claws in plain view of them. That flipped them out good and they both started running toward me. I knew they would have to stop before they got to me because they would reach the squeal point and do their flip. So they stopped short of the edge of their lawn and stood there yapping at me. I sat there with good posture and glared at them. I do this regularly, especially on a "slow day." They put on a pretty good show but I can't figure why they just stand there and bark and yap. Well, you know what they say, dogs are from Mars and cats are from Venus. I'll never figure them out, but I'm not going to try very hard. If they happen to jump the barrier, I could climb a near-by tree. But actually, I figure I could take them. I'm Buffy Cat.

There is a large, low, open area at the back of my territory that the persons call Sunnydale. This where I saw those big, turkey birds. After winter, when spring came, I went to this area frequently. While the persons were out doing spring stuff one day, I was out sniffing and searching. They call it "snurfing." There are lots of things in the spring to find. By mistake, I came upon a critter I had not seen before. It had a tail like mine and was the same colors as I am, but it sure wasn't a cat. It had 3 little things that looked just like her following behind. When she saw me she let out a shrill scream that scared me to where my fur stood on end. Then, she started running right toward me with a nasty look on her face screaming as she ran.
I took off running full speed too toward the woman person. I easily out ran the beast. The woman person picked me up and walked toward the house. The man person picked up a walking stick and started running toward the intruder, growling as he went. It was sort of embarrassing really. The thing turned and ran away. This was my first experience with a raccoon, but it wasn't the last.
The next year, in the spring, I began picking up a strange scent in different parts of my realm. I also noticed that the gifts I gave the persons, which were the remains of a hunt, were being dug up after the man had buried them. Not only were they dug up, but they were also consumed. This was sort of puzzling. One evening, as the days grew longer, the man and I were out walking on Blueberry Hill. As we walked around a big bush, we saw it. It was another raccoon. I never forget a critter and now I was also able to place its smell. The man was startled and so was it. I took off running toward it. The varmint acted confused, maybe it was not familiar with my species. At any rate it took off running away from me. It climbed the nearest tree, he was a good climber. I climbed up after it about 6 feet, and it was resting on a branch when I stopped to assess the situation. I stared at it a few seconds and went down the tree. I looked up at it for a few minutes until the man called me and we walked to the house. The man said something about "poetic justice", whatever that is, but I got a thrill that day. I'm Buffy Cat.