Willy Boy

We have a 16 an-a-half year old orange classic-tabby cat named Willy. (named for Willy Wonka) He has perfect bull's eye circles on both sides.

My older daughter got him from a friend whose cat had kittens - remember back when you could easily find a kitten from a home that you knew? He was cat-food-commercial cute.

Here he is at 4 or 5 months old sampling my catnip plant.

The house we lived in when he was young was a two story with an open staircase with rug covered steps. Willy use to race up the steps, around through the rooms on the upper floor then duck under the top step on to the huge cat tree's upper perch and then jump 8 feet across to the sofa and then he'd be off for another lap. Sometimes he reversed direction. My youngest niece use to come down and ask if she could come watch Willy fly.

(This huge cat tree was a real tree that had been removed from my sister's front yard. Carpet covered squares were attached to several of the larger limbs to provide padded perches for sleeping and observing.)




Later years Willy got fat and slept most of the time. He was so lazy he wouldn't even hold his head up he just lay there.
















Friends gave us an ornament that looked like Fat Willy

These days Willy Boy is moving much slower. He's lost a lot of weight due to a Hyperthyroid condition which also makes him meow VERY LOUDLY. We're always having to get his attention to stop the hollering; his volumne is permantely stuck on HIGH.
He's still a sweetheart. His favorite spot now a days is a laundry basket full of clothes.