Alex

My kids call him the Zombie Cat but I call him my bestest friend.

He was abandoned at my workplace one summer day 19 years ago. I guess you could say I rescued him but I really had no intention of keeping him as I already had a three year old cat named Zoe and she was enough for me. But the next morning when I opened my eyes, this was peering into my soul. I'd been owned.

Back in the day, Alex used to be a lap cat who'd let me dress him as Santa Claus and who'd open Capt'n Crunch cereal boxes to eat the crunch berries. But that was before I tossed him out of the house to become the Cat he was destined to be. Since that moment, I've heard him howl like a wolf at the full moon, he's braved blizzards from the back porch and he's caught moles too numerous to count. When the audacious male intruder dared to enter his yard, Alex fought him repeatedly by using his hind legs, inflicting serious damage on the interloper. He is a great protector who gets along well with hamsters, racoons and birds.


His hunting capabilites really shone brightly one night in 1998 when my husband and I decided to watch the movie Mouse Hunt. Alex sat on the floor watching along with us until the scene where Christopher Walken's macho cat gets booted from the house by the mouse. You can see some of it here! That's when he left the room.

He returned within five minutes with a live mouse in his mouth that he dropped at my husband's feet. His unmistakeable air of "See! That's how it's done!" caused me to jump up completely awestruck, screaming "Oh My God, it's a mouse! He went down to the cellar and hunted a mouse! He's telling you that HE can do it better!"

The poor kids know nothing of Alex's illustrious being. All they see is a old gray wobbly zombie. But he can still outrun the dog, carve a "Z" for Zorro on the tree and knock Trio into next Tuesday if need be. He's smart as a fox and yes, I love him.