RULE #10 LAWS OF CAT PHYSICS (Law of Cat Composition)
A cat is composed of Matter + Anti-Matter + It Doesn't Matter

This is Rufus the day I brought him home.  My friend raised him from 8 hours old.  His mom left him or was killed and the kittens were brought to the shelter.  All died but Rufus.  He had the will to live, I guess.  I took him from her so she could go out of town without worrying about him and I was so surprised when Madison decided he would devote all his time to carrying for the kitten. He was so small. He was already 7 weeks old but was only the size of a 4 week old.

Here's another favorite baby picture we love.

Here he is at a couple of months old. He used to like to lie by the refrigerator because it was warm, I guess.  And here he is NOW.

As usual, I didn't expect to keep him.  I'm allergic to cats and thought I would last about a week with him and be happy to give him back.  He already had a home lined up.  So with many tears I gave him back and left him to be neutered and declawed with a note that if the lady didn't want him I would like to keep him.  The surgery was called off the next day because they felt he wasn't strong enough and I was called to see if I really wanted him back.  It was all I could do to remain at work that day.  I couldn't get to the shelter fast enough that night to get him home.  A couple months later he was finally neutered and I signed papers on him the next day.  By the way, that was the day I also signed papers on Madison, 4 years after he came to live with me.

I received this special award from one bottle fed kitty to another. I can't really take credit for raising Rufus but I did feed him a couple of times at the shelter and if it wasn't for all the dedicated people at the shelter he probably wouldn't have lived. Thank you Jazzy and Cami for this award.

Here's a picture of my Dad babysitting while I went to a meeting. I was surprised to see the little guy sitting there so calmly.

I always put my fosters in the downstairs bathroom and I guess that is how Rufus' litter box ended up staying in there. He has come to believe that the downstairs bathroom belongs to him, I guess. If I have guests and someone wants to use the bathroom he sits outside the door - he has even been known to cry to get in there - and when the person comes out, Rufus runs in and checks his litter box to see if it was used. I have heard him scratching in there making sure everything is covered correctly -
strange little guy. And now that Lucy lives with us too (you will meet her next) - well, she doesn't cover very good and poor Rufus is always going into the litter box and cleaning up after her - poor guy. They are kind of like the cat version of The Odd Couple. He is Felix, she is Oscar.

I just got the latest batch of pictures back. I have already told you Rufus thinks the bathroom belongs to him .... did you ever think a cat would have tv in their bathroom? Here is a picture of Rufus watching television. My mother was watching them while I got a storm door installed and she took them all in the bathroom to keep the dogs from barking and I set up the tv so she could watch the game show she had on. Apparently Rufus was really fasciniated with the idea of having his own tv.