Hi! My name is Patches. I'm a black, brown and white male domestic shorthair feline (or so my vet says!). My mom has had me since Tuesday, November 16, 1999. The story of how we met is very interesting!

MEOW!!!!

It was a cold, windy day, and I was hungry and cold. I was roaming around for a while and couldn't find anything to eat. I saw a lady (grandma) opening the front door of her house. I climbed up her front steps and looked into the house. It looked so nice and warm in there! I must have scared the lady because she closed the door. Oh, no!

Suddenly, the lady came around the house from the back. I figured there must be another door back there, so I went around back to find it and wait for her. When she came back, I snuck in past her. I was right, it was nice and warm in the house. The lady gave me some milk and crackers, but I was still hungry.

A while later, another lady came to the house (my new mom!). She had all kinds of neat things, like a bed for me and a toy mouse. She also had sliced beef in gravy, one of my favorite foods! I must admit, I gulped it down because I was so hungry. It's so nice here, I decided to stay.

The next day, my mom and dad brought me some more neat things. Unfortunately, they also gave me a bath. I hate baths! (Of course, I do like how nice and soft my fur is now...) Now that I've had my claws taken out I can roam around the house. My favorite spot is the couch in the living room. It's nice and soft for a cat nap! ('Course, there's also mom's bed, the love seat, the rec room couch, Uncle Bill's bed, the spot at the top of the stairs, under the kitchen table...OK, there's too many! I can't decide!! I do usually sleep on mom's bed at night.)

I like my new mom. I really like it when she brushes me. She's nice and warm, too. I like to climb up in her lap. I even fall asleep in her arms sometimes or on her chest at bedtime. She made sure she got me blessed by Fr. Alan Hall at St. Andrew's so God will watch over me and keep me safe.

I had a really nice Christmas. Santa Paws brought me all kinds of neat stuff in my stocking, like a toy mice, balls with jingle bells inside, and MEOWlennium treats. He also brought me shrimp treats - YUM! Mom got me a Christmas collar and a Christmas supper dish. I got to share in the special Christmas Eve dinner and even got to sample some of the shrimp cocktail.

I was sooo tired after opening all my Christmas presents!

Patches lived with our family for just over two years. He was the most lovable cat I ever knew. If we had a party, he would make sure he sat on every single lap there, and if there was shrimp cocktail, he would make sure he always got his fair share. Patches' favorite food was turkey, this year he had all the table scraps he wanted at our new apartment when he came to visit.

On December 4, 2001, my brother realized that Patches wasn't acting like himself. He was diagnosed with a bad heart which was causing water in his lungs. Patches was taken to heaven on December 5, 2001 at 6:00 pm.