Ode to a yellow cat.

And then there were two..... It seems that one of our cats has either worn out his ninth life or has decided to head for greener pastures. We started with two cats and a dog. Well, if you want to get really technical *I* started with one cat, Pigger (aka Pootie) back in 1993 -- the year I lived by myself. And then a few years later Mr. Daddy came along, although at the time he was just Mr. Husband. And our first Christmas together we got our dog, Sweetpea, who at midnight on the night we brought her home was deemed a "mistake" after she peed in our bed. I ended up sleeping with her on the linoleum floor of our tiny little bathroom because it was the only place in the house where it wouldn't matter if she peed. That should have been a sign of the similar sacrifices that motherhood would require!

In 1998 we were living in my hometown and Mr. Daddy was in the National Guard. One day while he was at drill he called me and said "There's a really cute orange kitten that we found in the dumpster. Do you want me to bring it home?" Well, I've always been a softy when it comes to animals and I've always had an especial liking for orange kitties. So he brought him home and he was the cutest little thing. Mr. Daddy had fed him some of his lunch and his little belly was ginormous. So, we christened him Mr. Rustybutt Underfoot -- Rusty for short -- and he was ours.

And for 4 years, the five of us lived the good life. And then Bubba came along. And as usually happens, the animals started playing second fiddle. Hey, maybe that's where the "Hey Diddle Diddle" nursery rhyme comes from -- I mean, what do a cat and a dog have to do to get some attention around here?!!?

So anyway, over the years we've had the requisite pet owners guilt and we've discussed several times giving them away. But we can never actually bring ourselves to do it.

And then a couple of weekends ago, we had a little pet "crisis." Our dog somehow got hold of a bat in our backyard. Fortunately we were able to capture the bat and send it off for rabies testing. However, we were just the teensiest bit late getting Rusty and Sweetpea vaccinated for rabies, so they both had to be quarantined. They let us keep Sweetpea here in our fenced in back yard, but because Rusty comes and goes as he pleases, Animal Control picked him up and took him for 3 days. And while we were waiting on the results (which were negative by the way -- and YES, we've had them all vaccinated now, thank you!) Rusty lived the good life. Inside. Out of the heat. No other cats to share his food with. Just kickin' back. Chillin' at the kitty spa. And then back home to reality. He came home on Thursday and he disappeared on Saturday. I'm hoping that he said "The heck with this. I've had a taste of the good life again and I'm not ready to go back to the mean streets!" I hope he found someone who thought "Hey, you look like a nice cat. You look like you'd like to live with someone who promises not to let their kids rub your fur the wrong way. Wanna' come in and take a load off?"

And of course, this ode may be premature. Cats have been known to wander. But, he's never been gone this long before. So, we'll see. See you around, Rusty. You were a good cat.