I wasn’t much interested in pets until Carrie convinced me to get a dog about 10 years ago.

Growing up, we had a cat.  I had a guinea pig.  We had a couple of stray dogs that Dad brought home from the police department that didn’t stay long.

About three years after leaving home, I had a parakeet for a while.  But when it died, I was pet-less for nearly 20 years.  Until Ted moved in.

Ted was a feral cat that lived in the neighborhood.  My neighbor Ted (I’ll explain the coincidence of names in a moment) left food out for Ted (the cat).  Ted was completely unapproachable and would eat neighbor Ted’s food as long as it didn’t see anyone around.

Ted was a big Siamese tomcat with the characteristic blue eyes and raspy voice.  Its tail had a permanent crook at the end that made the tip nearly prehensile. Part of his right ear was missing, presumably from a fight.  I’d hate to see the other cat (or dog).

Ted the neighbor, who was in his late 70’s was selling his house and moving in with his son.  He asked me to continue the tradition of feeding cat Ted.  I took over feeding duties and named the cat “Ted” in honor of his previous benefactor.

Ted wasn’t showing any signs of being less feral but he did start sleeping under the bush next to our front steps.

Son Nick was about 10 at the time and had some kids on the block that he played with.  At some point Ted started joining in. To be more specific, when the kids would run up and down the block, Ted would chase them.  He always kept his distance, but seemed to like keeping them in sight.

This behavior went on for some weeks until one day the kids burst through the front door and ran through the living room into Nick’s room.  Ted was in hot pursuit until he realized he was halfway through the living room.  He stopped abruptly, looked me in the eye, turned and casually walked back out the door with that obvious “I meant to do that” cat attitude.

That was the beginning of Ted becoming somewhat tame and moving in with us.  It took a couple of more months, but by moving his food bowl up to the front door, and leaving the door open as much as was practical,  Ted became a somewhat normal indoor/outdoor cat.  He slept and ate in the house, and spent most days outside.  It was not unusual for him to stay away a couple of days at a time, but he always returned.

Some random Ted anecdotes, not in any order:

Dogs

Ted enjoyed baiting the neighborhood dogs.  One tactic was always amusing, but one got totally out of hand.  First, Ted would sit on the trunk of the car when it was parked in the driveway.  The driveway was short, so the back bumper was nearly at the sidewalk. Ted would wait for an unattended dog to walk by and would jump onto its back and bounce back onto the trunk before the dog could react.  Depending on the dog, it would be startled at best, terrified at worst.  From Ted’s point of view it seemed to be great sport and the only problem was the dog that realized a cat had attacked and Ted had to retreat to the car roof until said dog gave up.

Second, was the neighbor’s dog that jumped through a window to get to Ted.  The neighbor’s dog was a large (maybe 70 pound) male Chow.  The dog would sit at the neighbors’ big picture window and watch the activity on the street.  All was well, the dog was calm.  However, this would all change when Ted would sit on the sidewalk directly in the Chow’s line of sight.  The dog would back continuously, and aggressively until Ted got tired and left, or someone in the house was able to quiet the dog.  The neighbors asked me more than once to keep Ted from teasing their dog.  I asked Ted to stop, but as with most requests, mine was ignored.

And when I said the dog jumped through the window, I don’t mean the dog opened the window and jumped out, I mean the dog (apparently) got a running start and jumped through the plate glass picture window.  It was Ted’s turn to be startled, but he escaped unharmed.  The Chow didn’t even suffer a scratch.  The neighbor complained that the window cost $700 to replace, but he stopped short of suggesting I should pay.  Ted no longer teased the Chow.  Perhaps his goal was to get the dog to jump through the window and with that accomplished, Ted moved on.

Skunk

Just as he had followed the kids around the neighborhood when he was feral, now tame-ish Ted would follow us when we went for walks around the neighborhood.  His limit was about six or seven blocks, and no major streets.  If we went further, he would go his own way an meet us back home.  He was with me on one evening stroll when we encountered a skunk in the middle of a intersection just a couple of blocks from the house.  Skunks and possums were regular sights in Redondo, in spite of, or maybe because of the urban surroundings.

Ted ran straight for the skunk.  I was thinking this was not going to end well.  Ted would get sprayed, I’d be lucky if I wasn’t also.  But Ted, who may have initially thought this was a rival cat, or some other critter to be harassed, realized about 10 feet out that this was a skunk and an attack would be a bad idea.  Ted made a full-speed 90 degree turn to his right and slowed to his normal pace once back on the sidewalk.  Once again with that  obvious “I meant to do that” cat attitude.

Carpet Cleaner Guy

I had a guy over to steam-clean the carpets.   The guy started from the bottom cleaning the stairs, not realizing Ted was resting on the stair landing.  Just as the guy got to the step where he could see onto the landing, Ted stood up.  The guy was so startled he stepped back, lost his footing, and fell awkwardly down the stairs.  No one was hurt.  The guy was embarrassed.  His only comment was “That’s a big cat!”

Vet

Ted had something going on at the base of his tail.  It was swollen and obviously causing pain and Ted could/would barely move his tail.  This may have been Ted’s first-ever trip to the vet.  I was new at this as well.  Who knew you were supposed to put your cat in a carrier?  I carried Ted to the car.  He was used to car trips.  Once at the vet, I carried him inside tucked under one arm.  Everyone (the vet techs, the dogs on leash and the cats in carriers) appeared shocked to see Ted being carried so casually.  Ted was cool.  Turns out the problem was a bad infection probably the result of getting scratched by another cat in a fight.  It was treatable and Ted soon recovered.  The vet was fascinated by Ted and his nonchalant behavior and was even more fascinated by hearing about his transition from feral to whatever this was.  We talked about Ted’s crooked tail and partial ear, a broken tooth and a couple of other less obvious scars.  The vet suggested Ted be x-rayed  to see if he had any obvious issues.  The x-ray showed all was well but it also showed a few healed ribs that the vet speculated could have been the result of some significant abuse or even getting hit by a car.  Tough cat.  May have explained his earlier anti-human stance.

Ted eventually died from cancer.  He went pretty quick and let us take care of him through to the end.  He was the perfect pet for us.  Low maintenance, independent as hell, and with an attitude that was entertaining or terrifying, depending on where you were in Ted’s graces.