HONE
December 19, 2003

Hone arrived outside the door of our apartment on December 15, 2004. His soft meow had gotten the attention of my fiancé Wileen. She asked if we should feed him and I told her "not unless you want him to stay". A can of tuna was opened and he became part of our little family. He slept on our lanai that night and was waiting for us the next morning. He was invited in and he cautiously investigated our apartment then returned outside. That evening we took him to a vet to see if he was micro-chipped so we could return him to his owner. The vet said he was not micro-chipped and was apparently a little over 1 year old. We had decided to keep him but we felt we should try and find his owners. December 17, 2004 he rode with me to the Hawaiian Humane Society shelter in my Toyota MR2. He was not happy and I did not have a pet carrier at that time so it was an interesting ride. I left him there and told them that I would adopt him if nobody claimed him. December 19, 2004 he had been in the shelter for the required 48 hours and we went to pick him up. We decided that we would use December 19, 2003 as his birthday.

He was not very large when we got him and was routinely beat up by the other cats around the area. He apparently spent a fair amount of time outside since he prefers to be out most of the time. He is happy lazing around our porch or on the neighbor's cat furniture. He does not always get along with the other cats, especially the males. He tolerates Cayenne, our neighbor's older male cat. We started to bring him in each evening and he happily sleeps at the foot of our bed each night. When I go and look for him he will generally run up to me and happily head-butt me, meow or chatter depending on his mood. We normally take a walk in the park each evening where he enjoys rolling in the dirt. He is generally not overly scared of dogs or most people. He has developed a number of friends around the area.

When I started my new job in January 2007 we decided it was time to get another cat. So I went to the Hawaiian Humane Society and found a white and brown calico female that we named Hoku. Hone was quite surprised and Hoku hissed and hid for a couple of weeks. Over next couple of months they began to learn to get along. Hoku began to go out with him in the morning and they apparently were getting attached. On May 31, 2007 I found Hoku on the road outside our apartment. She had been hit by a car. That night Hone went around the apartment from room to room and quietly called for Hoku. I was upset and lying down on the sofa watching some television. He hopped up and lay down next to me with head on my arm. While he is affectionate he normally does not do this and I knew it was because he missed Hoku.

Wileen decided we would visit the Hawaii Human Society shelter the Sunday after Hoku died. We came home with a 3 month old kitten that we named Hinahina (Hina for short). Hina owned the apartment from the moment she got there. When Hone came home she hunched her back hissed and turned sideways. He backed off and went back outside. He spent a good deal of time outside or in a separate room since she always jumped on him wanting to play after the first few days.

Hone did not come home on the evening of June 8, 2007. We searched the neighborhood until nearly midnight. A neighbor that knows Hone also looked for him as well. I was feeling really down and could barely sleep. I woke up at 4 o'clock in the morning and drove around for 40 minutes looking for him. I returned home and slept for a bit longer. Later that morning I walked around the neighborhood putting up posters and calling for him. I was really upset and very tired when I finally came home. I went back out that afternoon looking for him and returned home again tired and upset. I asked Wileen to pickup dinner and she left while I lay on the bed watching television trying to take my mind of Hone. Not more than 2 minutes later Wileen came running in the house holding Hone in her arms. She was visibly shaking and told me when she opened the door of her truck he bolted out meowing at her. As best we can tell he managed to slip unnoticed into her truck Friday night when she got home from work. He was very thirsty and a bit hungry but appeared no worse for wear. It was quite a hot day on Saturday so we were very lucky. I was very thankful and happy to have my boy back home.

Over the last few months Hone and Hina have been learning to get along and have become companions. Hina still jumps all over him and he does get annoyed on occasion. They have occasionally chased each other around the house and knocked items down throughout the house. Most notably the DVR and DVD player have been knocked down a few times. Amazingly the DVR continued to work until the last crash.

On January 13th 2008 around 8:00 P.M. we had someone ask us about Hone on the roof. We live on the 2nd floor of a townhouse and above the lanai of the unit below there is a small overhang that provides some cover for the lanai below. He routinely jumps up there from the fence then jumps onto the window air conditioning unit to look into our living room. I figured that was what they were talking about so I said that was normal. A few minutes later Wileen said that Hone was on the roof of a different townhouse. I went outside to look and found that we as actually on the 2nd story top roof of the townhouse next door. His calls were of the type that I know to be a distress call. We tried coaxing him down to us but he would not jump. We even had a nice young boy try to go up a ladder we purchased but to no avail. Finally, the Honolulu Fire Department (Kapolei Station) was called and they were able to reunite us. The very next day on one of the newly pruned trees I see Hone sitting on the top branch near the roof again. I gave him a squirt from my water bottle and he returned to the ground. He is a great cat but always seems to manage to put himself into strange situations. I only hope he does not do this again.

July 12th 2008 was initially a sad day for me. Hone disappeared and we had been looking all evening. Another cat disappeared recently as well. Wileen and I were depressed and very sad. I had planned to make up flyers and call the Humane Society to see if he has been found. I hoped he would turn up on his own but it is just very unusual for him not to come home around 5:00 P.M. to eat. He has been such an important part of my life for the last few years. I prayed that night for his safe return. At 11:30 P.M. I decided to take another walk around the complex. I walked through the driveway parking lot calling for him. I walked by one of the drainage grates knowing he got himself stuck there shortly after we got him. I shined the flashlight inside and saw nothing so I continued walking. I called again for him and heard a "Meow" from behind me. I walked back to the grate and sure enough he was there looking at me. He got into the grate from a drainage pipe that starts at another grate that is in the yard area and is open on the sides. I went to the grate that I knew he entered from, shined the flashlight and called for him but he would not come. The last time a young man helped lift the grate off and I got him out. This time I asked another neighbor to help me and we could not lift the grate off. Hone has made a number of friends over the years and we had about 10 people out trying to lift the grate off. We finally hooked a tow rope to my fiancé's truck and pulled the grate off. Hone was completely freaked out by the huge clattering of the big grate hitting the ground and being dragged. It took my fiancé about 5 minutes to finally get him out of the drainage pipe. Happily he was back at home and slept peacefully on his towel at the end of the bed with Hina.

We have recently adopted a little stray that we named Laki. Hone is not a happy cat and has been extremely upset by the new changes. His world has been turned upside-down yet again and he is letting his displeasure be known. He has beat up on Hina and even beat up on Laki. We are being patient and hoping he will adapt over the next few weeks. He has always been a very mellow guy except for the other male cats in the area. Patience and love will hopefully allow him to get used to new addition.

Hone has not enjoyed our new home since he no longer gets to go out on his own. He makes his displeasure known by marking, attacking Hina and even biting me from time to time. We now take him for a walk or two each day to try and give him some time outside. It is not really enough to make him completely happy since he came to us from the outside and he misses it very much. But at least he is safe and generally happy. I am trying to find things to entertain him so he does not get as upset. I have not had a great deal of success with that but I will keep trying. Despite his escapades we are happy to have him with us and I look forward to seeing him, Hina and Laki each evening.