Happy Birthday, Mattie!

Today Mattie turns 10 years old. He's been with us since September, 2006. We adopted him from a family who was moving to a place that didn't allow outdoor kitties.

Our time with Mattie was an adventure from the very beginning. He ran away the moment he arrived here to live with us. I searched for him for 3 days -- taking time off work, making phone calls, and posting signs everywhere. We finally found him, thanks to a helpful neighbor. We all had to get used to one another. Mostly, we had to get used to his rather vocal nature. We adopted him and his pal Wilde but Wilde got hit in December 2006. Mattie became the only cat in the house and glowed in that position.

We were pretty much used to each other and settled into a routine by summer 2007. That July we found him under a bush with a huge laceration in his leg. The vet patched him up and we spent the better part of a month taking him in for bandage changes. He was doing much better. Due to some uncontrollable circumstances, we spent a large part of August away from home. Mattie was displeased by that and decided to spray a huge pile of Mike's clothes to let us know. I thought for sure he would meet his end after that.

Fortunately, we stuck things out. He is the most loving cat we've ever had. He follows us like a dog, loves to cuddle, and has a very patient and forgiving personality. He is a very important part of our family, to us and to the rest of the family (especially Connor and Fiona).

We made him special birthday treats to celebrate his 11th birthday, but the finicky eater he is, he rejected them. Maybe he'll like them better later. We are all still going to celebrate him.

Have a happy day!