This is a sweet kitty." my sister Denise crooned, scratching the cat's ears. Hardly a kitty at that size, I thought, but the cat just bellied up for more sunning and scratching as if he belonged with us. "we aren't keeping that cat," said Mom. "It's a stray; we don't know anything about it, and it's too big." The cat didn't seem to mind. He just sauntered a way like he owned the whole neighborhood. We saw the cat only occasionally during the hot days of August and the milder days of September, but when the rain showers of October came, the cat renewed its efforts to be adopted. Try to enjoy a fall evening with a cat the size of a small raccoon howling on top of your mailbox. Still, our parents wouldn't let us bring the cat inside, which reduced Denise to tears. "the cat is wet and cold," Denise cried. "He needs us!" It was rainy October. By this time the cat had spent several wet, cold nights outside. Finally our parents relented. Dad said, "Okay, bring the cat onto the porch for the night. But don't let it in to the house." From the way mi sister carried on, I think my parents realized it was a fight they would not win. Denise was all smiles as she dried the cat with a towel, fed him, and then made him a bed from old towels. She would have slept out there with the cat if my parents had let her. So, the next morning we packed the cat in to the car for a trip to the veterinarian. "If we're going to have a cat, we'd declared. The veterinarian pronounced the cat healthy but was surprised by cat's size. "He must weigh more than twenty pounds," she said. "I don't know that he needs that much food. try feeding him twice a day, and see how much he eats.