Zorro's official
Gotcha Day was 9/28/13!! He
introduced himself a couple weeks later.
At the time the vet guessed he was five years old altho he acted more like a naughty little kid most days. He still has his moments - there was a little tantrum before I left for vacation last weekend.
In fact, I ought to say that 9/28 was his first Gotcha Day. I only had inside cats until Z arrived and I had intended him to be an inny kitty as well. We disagreed vehemently, resulting in lots of bloodshed on my part, broken items pushed to the floor, scratched couches and food containers busted open for a hungry ex-street cat.
It got so bad that after just 28 days I opened the door and just let him leave. I had cried many times while we tried to work out our inside differences but then I cried again when he didn't show his little face for days and days and days. Z then lived outside while I continued to feed him on the porch. He was happy enough.
Eventually winter arrived in early 2014 and the temps were well below freezing so I would bring him inside to sleep in the crate for the night. Eventually that led to our current situation: Z can come and go as he pleases, he just rings a bell (instead of scratching the couch) when he wants to go outside. It stresses me out when he doesn't come home when I want him to but 9 times out of 10 he will come when I whistle for him. Often, he is meowing his "here I come" meow which is so endearing.
I never wrote down his second gotcha date - I suppose it's not the important date in the grand scheme. Over the years Z has stayed outside less and damaged fewer things in the house but he is still always on the hunt for food boxes to bust open or garbage to pull from the bin. I guess you can never break a cat from being hungry!
So...all that to say that Monday is Zorro's 7th anniversary here at Casa Grande. I love him dearly and can't imagine life without him.
Give your cats a snuggle in his honor!