Another birthday

Today - June 1 - Edison celebrates his 12th birthday. In October 1998, my husband and I were walking to Thomas Edison High School to buy our Halloween pumpkin, when Bill spotted a rather emaciated cat coming in and out of a storm drain. I ran back home to get a can of cat food. The food was left by the drain, and soon enough, the cat emerged again, and scarfed down the meal. For the next two weeks, Bill and I returned every day to the drain. We brought a crowbar, and I figured out how to open the drain cover. The highs school has a veterinary program, and we spoke to the teacher. Students tried to trap the cat, to no avail. Finally, after two weeks of coming every evening with food, Bill and I were able to trap the cat. We brought the cat home, locked put in him in the bathroom so he would not have any contact with the other cats ... just in case, he had a disease. The next morning, we took him to the vet, where we left him for a checkup. The vet called later in the morning to say that the cat had only minor issues, such as roundworm, all of which were easily treatable. He was all skin and bones, and the vet thought he was about 18 months. The vet told us we had a little sweetheart. Bill and I looked at each other and said: snip him. In other words, we were going to add to the family again. Louis, my Maine Coon, didn't care. He was the alpha cat, and Mommy's boy. My sensitive Buddy was another matter, and Edison, the name we gave our kitty, was a survivor cat. He traumatized Buddy. In fact, Buddy would not get off our bed for several months. We had to close the door so he would get off to use the litter box. If I picked him up, and carried him out into the hall, he would scream. It was horrible. We nearly got rid of Edison, but I knew that Edison would eventually calm down, and Buddy would be more accepting. One spring morning, Buddy got off the bed, walked into the hall, looked around, and went back on the bed. The next morning, Buddy got off the bed, ran downstairs, looked for Edison, and gave him the third paw!
Edison is much more mellow now -- and no longer skin and bones. At one time, he soared to over 20lbs. Big boned! He has lost some weight, but, unfortunately, cats cannot do crunchies to regain the flat tummy. Edison, who is also known as Edison James Kittycat, is mellow, loves to drink from the spigot, is very quiet, shy, and loves his little sister, Sienna. Edison and Buddy made their peace a long time ago, and Edison tries to protect Buddy from the the diva, Ella.