Denise fed Beau canned cat food morning and night, but he often begged for more when she got home from school. "No, Beau, you can't eat now," she told the cat soothingly. Beau responded by heading straight to the door for a howl session. These invariably ended with one of us putting Beau outside. Later we learned that one of our neighbors had fed Beau when he was a stray. She didn't know that we had adopted Beau, so she continued to feed him whenever he came by. Then Beau, who thought watching television was a bad habit, initiated games of hide-and- seek with us at night. Hopping off the couch he crouched on the carpet in a playful position Then he hid, often behind the couch, and waited to be fished out. His antics mobilized the entire family even Dad as we chased him around the house, searching and laughing Finally we had everything a family could possibly want a house of our own, a loving family, and our very own pet, at last.