Third prize- Rusty

Why my pet is Special?
Rusty is special to me because of how we met. I was 16 years old and I just moved with my parents from Rochester Hills to Auburn Hills. I don't remember exactly when he showed up; he just was suddenly there. My sister and I just noticed one day this beautiful orange tiger like cat banging around our house. We would talk to him and give him food and and even sneak him into the house to play with our other cat when our parents weren't home. We assumed he was a stray but it turned out that although he was definitely the "neighborhood" cat, he technically belonged to the people across the street. We later would determine that they weren't really nice people and we definitely didn't agree with them letting such a wonderful cat be exposed to the elements and just run free for something to happen to him. But, he wasn't ours so we just did what we could. We would feed him when he came around and I remember my mom and I cleaning his
wounds one day when he showed up, having clearly been in some sort of fight with another animal. My dad wasn't too thrilled about Rusty at first (who we called Morris the Cat for a long time until we found out his name was Rusty). My dad used to get so mad because if he forgot to close the garage door at night than Rusty would sleep in his 1967 Convertible car stored in the garage. You could see little cat scratches in the paint, it drove him nuts! Rusty and I had a special bond. When I came home from school every afternoon, he would come out running from wherever he was at when he heard my car, come and jump up on the big rock I parked in front of and meow at me when I got out of the car. It was such a wonderful way to be greeted. I would worry about him if for some reason, he were not there when I came home. Then one day, misfortune struck. A police officer showed up in our neighborhood<xi and had Rusty in the back of his car. It turns out that the old lady who lived further down the street tried to separate Rusty and her cat ~use she thought they were fighting. (As it turns out they were mating) But since the owners didn't take care of him and didn't have proof of rabies vacillations, then he had to go to animal control to be tested. He was quarantined for 12 days, didn't have rabies, but did catch a cold from the other pets. I was so upset that Rusty was in "cat jail", I actually went to visit him and get the status of what was going on. When it was time to go home the owners" said they couldn't take him because of the enormous bill Rusty had racked up for his lengthy stay. I can't remember exactly but they were looking at $200 to take him. They couldn't afford it, so I talked the Lieutenant into reducing the price so that he could go home. He did, to $60, and the owners told us he would be picked up that Thursday. On Friday, the owners said that he was home and they were giving him his medicine for the cold he had, etc. etc. We were excited that we saved him and he wasn't put to sleep. I had a funny feeling. I didn't trust these people and I had some suspicions. They were confirmed when I called that Monday to find out that he was still there at the shelter and the owners never came to get him. I explained it to the Lieutenant, and he was appalled. I asked if we could adopt him and since Rusty had been there for 18 days at this point, he said that we could since he technically belonged to the shelter at that point. Besides, he could tell that we clearly loved him. He came home with me that day and we have been buddies ever since. I am now almost 25. Rusty is now an old man whose girl chasing days is long over with. He still greets me when I come home, just not on a rock, on a sofa instead.My parents refer to themselves as grandma and grandpa when they come over and play with him. They are so glad that I talked them into letting me have him nearly 10 years ago. So am I.