LIFE WITH BUDDY-ROO

 

As Buddy's fourth birthday arrives next week on June 3, a few anecdotes about our beloved roommate:

His Lordship pulled a fast one: he came in mewing after being out for 5 hours. So I immediately got him some food. It was pate, which I thought I would try to work into his routine. I put the plate down, he walked over for 2 mississippi and returned to tail me with intent as I stood by the sink. I added warm water to loosen it up. Deja vu. I left the plate and opened up a fresh can of old favorite. Is there a time warp in the room? Finally he bunted the food drawer. Ah. He wants treats in his Baby Einstein. Ok. I went to do something and returned for a drink of water. Buddy came, tailed and walked toward the slider. Sometimes, he desires treats as an appetizer before the main course. In this case, he was also letting me know that he did not like the pate. Noted, your Lordship.

After decimating this year's crop of baby bunnies, he has shifted his focus to young chippers.  One day I found a tail in the library (no, the butler did not do it). Evidently, because we gave off such negative vibes to his gifts of half-eaten corpses, he changed course. This, turned out to be partly true. Shortly afterword, I was in my bedroom picking up some dropped leaves from the decade old hoya plant.

As I was standing back up, a chestnut blur flashed past me dropping to the floor. A chipper had been up in the hoya! I hollered for C and eventually we trapped the poor thing and returned it to the wild. Thank goodness we found it as opposed to waking up to something moving around at 1.20 am!

Sigh, Buddy-roo means well, as he is a very polite cat, wishing to fit in with us and wanting to thank us for providing him with a good home. Perhaps he thought that our negative reactions to his earlier gifts was that we were deprived of the thrill of the hunt. So, he provided. What a good lad!

Two nights ago, I was awakened around 4 am by the screams of felines in battle. This became an eerily similar replay of another early morning incident with Bin several years ago. In both cases, the other cat in question was Russian Blue from the cul-de-sac, who has always been enamored with our lads. By the time I put on sweats and stumbled half-awake out on the front porch, the fight was over. DHS was standing midway down the drive facing RB who was in a sphinx pose in the street. This was not their first meeting-they had an exchange in the street last summer. I walked past Bud and approached RB. She immediately got up and ran back towards home. A full moon slide in and out of clouds just above the treeline to the South-bright one moment to nearly obscured the next.

Buddy walked down the street keeping an eye on her. I spoke to him as he went past "take it easy, man and don't get hurt" then turned and went back to bed.