Otis the cat adopted our family.
He was a stray, and I must say, he was the most
persistent stray there ever was.
Otis first appeared at our door about ten years ago-
shortly after we moved into our house.
He apparently thought this was his house,
because he showed up clawing at the door to get in.
He
is an enormous cat, and has huge claws,
so when he scratched at the door, he really made his
presence known.
My little cat is tiny, and has no claws, so I
refused to let the monstrous beast in. Ignoring
Otis
didn't stop his constant scratching. He
only got louder. He began meowing, and when that didn't
work, he climbed up in the window and began digging
on the glass. I still refused to give in, and
so did
Otis. He started trying to get inside every time the
door opened, and was really making a
nuisance of himself.
One day, our door apparently didn't latch tight when we
left, and when we got home, the wind
had blown the door wide
open. When I got inside, I found Otis making himself
at home. He had
helped himself to my cat's food, and was
sound asleep on our couch. My cat was standing guard
on the floor next to him, hissing and growling.
Otis sometimes vanished for a few days, but he always managed
to find his way back. This went
on for nearly two years.
I didn't have the heart to get rid of the little pest, but
I also didn't have
any intention of keeping him, because
my cat hated him. I guess I assumed he was being fed
somewhere,
because he was so big, so I never really worried about him, either.
One winter, Otis became a regular here. He seemed
to be here around the clock every
single day.
It was then that we began to realize that he was truly homeless.
The first time he came inside, he seemed to know his way
around. After eating everything in
sight, he promptly headed
upstairs to find a nice, warm bed. This didn't go over well
with our
jealous cat and dog. My cat hissed all night
long, and our dog Milo barked all night.
The noise
caused poor Otis to hide most of the night.
Otis grew on us, and we affectionately nicknamed him Crusty because
he always loved hunting, and kept getting nasty ol' tapeworms.
He was the most loveable of cats, and his behavior was that of a real gentleman.
He never climbed on the tables or counters- unlike his adopted sister.
He always sat near the food bowl and let his sister eat before he'd dive in.
All Crusty ever wanted was for someone to love him, and we truly did.
My beloved Otis passed away on June 10th, 2006.
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