Fred's Permanent Record

I. 6 April 2003: Born in Healdsburg, CA
II. June 2003: Placed in the care of Healdsburg no kill animal shelter
III. August 2003: Crawled into Garnabus' lap in the kitten room and promptly fell asleep (thus securing himself a place in the family)
IV. 21 August 2003: Received rabies shot, was neutered, was microchipped
V. 22 August 2003: Adopted out under the name of Captain Crunch -- henceforth known as Fred.
VI. 22 August 2003, 12:45pm: At first encounter with a dog (a puppy younger and smaller than Fred), sprang onto Garnabus, spilling his plate (his favorite lunch at the ranch mind you) onto the floor and causing three bleeding gashes in his arm.
VII. October 2003: Crapped on Garnabus' side of the bed when he trapped himself in the bedroom by forcing his way past a weighted door, which closed behind him.
VIII. December 2003: Climbed the Christmas tree.
IX. January-November 2004: Peed in the beanbag chair seven times (he blamed it on his little sister, Ginger) finally resulting in it's being discarded.
X. February 2004: Learned NOT to jump onto the kitchen table anymore (the table was covered with aluminum foil for two weeks with some minor success, followed by much more successful but more pervasive shallow pans of water... it only took two times of his jumping up into wet to decide it was a heinous place to jump!
XI. December 2004: Climbed the Christmas tree, ate ribbon off of Christmas packages, peed on guest's sleeping bag and clothes duffle (out of spite for Christmas guests).
XII. April 2005: peed on full bag of clean laundry.
XIII. May 2005-November 2005: ran laps through the house, banking off of the bed, from 3:30 am - 4:15 am. Pulled up/snagged/destroyed carpet outside bedroom door when it was closed to prevent running laps. Dumped candle into toilet when incarcerated in bathroom to prevent him from ruining the carpet by the bedroom door. (Solution: left one door open to bedroom and if he got rambunctious, we put him in the bathroom until the next time we had to get up to pee... he learned quickly at that point).
XIV. September 2005: Caught his first mouse! (Good kitty!)
XV. December 2005: Drank Christmas tree water (the tree died), climbed the Christmas tree, introduced his friend Teo to the joys of the sooty fireplace (which can then be tracked all over the house)... he blamed it on his little sister, Ginger.
XVI. January 2006: Peed on Ginger's new bed (her Christmas gift) -- he got a Christmas gift too, he was just feeling covetous and spiteful. Thankfully bed could be washed... once.
XVII. July 2006: On a tear that can only be described as pure feline malice, Fred peed on a guest's bag, peed an one of our bags, peed on Ginger's bed (this time it had to be thrown out), peed on Ginger's ENTIRE toy box (which also had to be thrown out along with 85% of her plush toy carcass collection), peed on the NEW beanbag chair (which had to be thrown out), AND peed on our bed -- congratulations, you're a dick.

Fred's Defense: Cat's don't like change. While he is very good with guests and change in small amounts, even Fred can get overwhelmed and acts out in response. With the exception of peeing in the beanbag chair repeatedly, this is all pretty natural behavior considering the circumstances surrounding each episode. Overall, he is a very good kitty -- he's never marked anything, he's never pooped or peed in our shoes, he's never destroyed any furniture or clothes, and he drinks enough that when he does pee on stuff that can be safely washed, it doesn't leave any permanent smell. He's wonderfully affectionate, great with the dog, good with kids, good with visiting animals (dogs and cats alike), and genuinely enjoys our company (unlike many other cats I've known!). As family members go, he's probably ruined fewer things in his first three years than any of the humans in the house ;o)