Early in 2008 Dad decided to move down the street to a house close to Galveston Bay.  At the time he lived with two cats - Coco Proudtail and Mr. Lloyd.  He was really excited to live next to the coast - close to nature AND the required legal distance from children.  This was his first real home with multiple toilets and a back door, and it seemed prudent to add another cat to the family...

Lloyd is a real handful - a young Orange Tabby that spends most of his day outside crying for treats and attention.  Dad was doing his usual Craigslist search for kitties and accidentally stumbled on the Pet section.  He decided to look around for a young friend for Lloyd since Coco was a little older and hateful toward other living things.  He found an ad for a young kitty that was recently abandoned at a car wash.  The description brought a tear to his eye - the story mirrored his own tragic childhood.  He responded to the ad and a really nice college girl sent back a picture of this unnamed handsome devil-cat.

Dad went a few blocks down the street and met an awesome couple of girls that fostered a bunch of lost animals.  Birds, dogs, and kitties were everywhere and within a few minutes the little kitten woke up and was enjoying a nice bottle of warm, nutritious sludge.  The new kitty fell asleep in Dad's lap and everybody knew that it was destiny. The girls wanted to keep the kitty until he was done bottle feeding, and it gave Dad time to dry out a little bit.

In the second week of May 2008 the new kitty arrived at his new home.  The girls were really sad to see the kitty go, but knew that he was in the right place. (Maybe not the right place in terms of ethics and morals, but he paid good money.)   Lloyd welcomed the new kitty with open paws, and Coco welcomed him with bared claws.  Dad was excited with the new addition to the house, but one important question remained... Who exactly is this new kitty?

Dad never GIVES a name to a pet - he waits for the pet to tell HIM their name.  Dad's sister thought this cat was named Nutters or Rocco, but Dad knew he had to wait.  One day the kitten walked up to Dad and said, "I guess I should tell you that my name is LAMONT! L-A-M-O-N-T" Dad kinda thought it was a bizarre name for a cat and was stunned with the precise spelling, but you can't argue with cat logic.  Seriously - he's tried arguing with the cats for hours and it always ends in a bizarre stalemate.

Little Lamont was one heck of a squeaker.  Everybody fell in love with him.  Men wanted to be him, and women wanted to be with him.  Dad's sister kept saying that he's a real Handsome Boy.  Before long we had figured out his full name : Lamont Handsome Boy.  (Obviously cats only know their first name, not the rest.)  Lloyd quickly adopted Lamont and began teaching him everything about butt-sniffing, wrestling, grooming, and general cat-like behaviours.

Coco really loved Lamont, too.  You can tell by this picture where she is smiling with her teeth and communicating her joy with Lamont's presence at the water dish.

One thing became very apparent - Lamont is a fearless cat.  Dad was worried that Lloyd might be too big, but that didn't seem to be a problem.  Lamont was not afraid to explore any small space, eat any bizarre food, or wrestle any cat he encountered.  Every evening ended with Lloyd and Lamont putting on a show of love.

And so ends the first few weeks of Lamont's story.  A house by the water, happy animals in a natural habitat, and a father-figure slipping further into an alkaloid/tequila dementia.  Lamont was growing fast.  He moved into his new home on May 10 2008... The next chapter begins on June 1 2008 - the first day of hurricane season.

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