Sugar Ray was my human's cat before I came onto the scene. She'd been born in a backyard in beautiful Van Nuys, CA in March 1998, and she came to stay with my human two months later.

Sugar Ray and I were good friends, and there were many days when we would hang out with each other on either side of the screen door--sometimes we'd even play fight with our paws in the gap under the door. I watched with envy as Sugar Ray had the freedom to move around at will, while my human made me stay in the house. Marco had offered her the option to be an indoor/outdoor cat, but she chose a life unfettered by the comforts of four walls and a roof. However, she had to deal with the other cats in the neighborhood we call Katzylvania, and some of them (like her prematurely deceased brother, Mr. Guy) were tough punk cats and tried to bully her.

Sugar Ray patrolled my human's front and back yards, and loved to hunt mice and other vermin. She once even caught a little finch, which worried my human, but after some thought he realized an outdoor cat needs to keep her hunting skills sharp.

In mid-January 2016, a couple months shy of her 18th birthday, Sugar Ray got an infection on the right side of her face, which my human didn't notice until it progressed to the point where one of her eyes was completely closed. Her health rapidly worsened, and on January 21st, he took her to the vet for the last time, and Marco talked softly to her as she fell asleep forever.

I will miss Sugar Ray as she was a lovely feline being, and the very epitome of catness.