Buddy could very well be the only black cat in Oak Harbor who turns thirteen this Halloween. And not only that... he does tricks for treats. All you have to do is visit us, and he's there ready, willing and able to perform. Since my husband and I both work from home, he gets daily opportunities to do so.

In 1994 I was looking for a companion to our daughter's cat Sasha who was 18 months old at the time, and we headed out to Silverlake after finding an ad for free kittens in the WNT. There were two kittens left -- a striped one and a black one. The owner said no one seemed to want a black cat and when she said the litter had been born on Halloween -- well, that was my cat.

Being Italian and a bit of a romantic, I had planned to name him Romeo, so that when looking for him I could call "Romeo, Romeo, where for art thou..." But everytime my husband John saw him he'd say "And how's our little buddy?" Since we DID get him to be just that, that became his name.

And the little part has grown into nearly 18 lbs of cat... all muscle. He sits, will shake your hand and begs..as long as you have that treat. He'll be on our our doorstep in Halloween to greet the trick-or-treaters.