About 5 years ago on a fall evening my dad and I were out on the back patio of our house in California when we heard a cat meowing. My dad grabbed a flashlight and we observed the skinniest cat that we had ever seen. He wasn’t afraid of us, nor our 50 pound German Shepherd mix. I thought for sure that my dad was going to just tell me to let the cat be, but amazingly he offered to get it some food.

The cat ate ravenously, drank some offered water and promptly hurled on the bricks and began eating again. This time we only let him have a little and drink as much water as he cared to. We decided to put him up in the garage for the night with a bit of food and some water. I said to my dad, “You know he’s here to stay.” To which he replied, “Yeah, I know.” We already had a cat and I didn’t figure that he would be too interested in having another one.

Of course he stayed. Now began the task of naming a nearly full grown cat. He was very affectionate and appreciative. In fact, within a very short time he began eliminating the rat population in our garage. (We figured that this was pretty good exchange for room and board.) We thought about naming him Damn Cat II. We thought about naming him Lucky Bastard. We thought about giving him a myriad of other names. He didn’t really seem to care what he was called so long as there was food and people. We finally settled on Killer as it soon became apparent that he was proficient in this area.

It should be noted that this cat probably DOES have nine lives and that by the time he adopted us, he had used at least one of them. Our backyard virtually opened into a vast wilderness called Angeles National Forest. Bobcat and coyotes frequented our yard, as well as racoons and owls. The fact that he avoided starvation and being eaten was pretty amazing, all things considered.

His next mishap was getting closed in the garage door. Face out, ass in. Yep, picture a yellow tabby cat protruding from the front of your garage. That would be him. Opening the garage door seemed the only logical way to get him out and as soon as he was free he sauntered off, unharmed. (Perhaps his dignity was bruised, but that was all.)

He also has a penchant for fighting. So each Spring that he has resided with us he gets carted off to the vet to stave off some infection that has left him lethargic, wounded and sick.

When we moved from L.A. to Florida he was no where to be found when it came time to put him in a crate and cart him off to LAX for the trip. At the last moment, literally as I am closing the car door, he saunters across the street. I pack him up and the next thing he knows he is on a plane to God knows where.

I have to give this cat a lot of credit for adjusting. I attempted to make him an indoor cat once we moved to Florida, but Chloe, my decidedly indoor cat, objected strongly and Killer is perhaps the whiniest beast I have ever encountered when he doesn’t get his way. He wanted OUT! Now he enjoys the best of both worlds, at his whim. And he thanked us for his freedom by decimating the rat population in our new garage. I had to ask him nicely not to bring us any cute animals such as squirrels and bunnies as token of his undying love and appreciation. He seems to have gotten the point, but not until after he had made a minor dent in these populations.

Perhaps the quirkiest thing about this cat is his habit of lying in the middle of the street or behind my car. Or worse yet, when he sees me coming down the street, he goes and lays in the middle of the driveway. He seems to know that all of this makes me crazy. You see a cat that I had previously was hit while crossing the street to greet me when I came home from work. So to ensure my peace of mind, I get out of the car and chase Killer out of my parking space, out of the middle of the street or out from behind my car. And sometimes, he promptly comes right back and plops down in the same spot, usually about the time that I have gotten back into my car. I am pretty sure that he knows exactly what he is doing.

I am happy that he chose us. I think he did well to do so. He seems pretty pleased with the arrangement. Did I mention that he drools? Well, I will save that for another time…