About the Cat in My Logo

I've had a couple of inquiries about the cat in my logo ... this snoozing white lump of felinity. That's Apollo, sleeping in the shade on the patio I built. He's a marvelous mascot for a Lazy Gardener.

I rescued him from the parking lot of a big-box home improvement store in late 1995. As I was leaving the store I saw a skinny, black and white spotted cat cowering under a near-by car. He was easily coaxed into grabbing range, so I grabbed him and threw him into my truck. He cowered in my lap, purring nervously all the way home.

I gave him a bowl of water and a can of tuna to tide him over and took a good look at my prize. He wasn't black and white. He was black greasy spots, grey dirt and some white fur. I couldn't tell if he was all white or not. He was that dirty!

The first week, he ate a 3.5 pound bag of catfood ... and became really nervous when the bowl was less than overflowing. I bathed him and decided he was would be mostly white when the rest of the street filth wore off. He stayed affectionate, was housebroken, and was an overall nice rescue.

Unfortunately, no sooner did he lose the starved street-cat look and gain some weight than his basic tom-cat instincts took over. He howled, he yowled and he wanted out. And he became aggressive about wanting out. My scrawny stray was a full-grown tom cat. I made a few phone calls to vets and finally found one who would do an "emergency" neutering instead of telling me the next available opening was in 6 months.

Things calmed down after the neutering, but he never became a house cat. He was always affectionate, but he went crazy if I tried to confine him. The house was a warm place to sleep on cold nights, and where the food bowl was.

Eventually he moved down the block to a house with a better menu and a homeowner who had more time to spend with him. Until I moved, he would come back every couple of weeks for a brief visit, get petted and then wander back home.