Simon the Pie-man

Dear Readers,
Got a request asking about Simon, our geriatric kitty. 
As you can see from the above "Glamour" pic, Simon survived the voyage over.  There was a slight hitch in the plan when Rachel missed her international connection and had to unexpectedly spend the night in a NJ hotel with Simon. 
For those of you who don't know this regal fellow, he was abandoned as a kitten, discovered by a mother of Rachel's friend in a dumpster behind a hospital.  Rachel had to nurse him with an eye dropper.  I have this theory there is a near-death experience in every life at some point.  If it happens earlier and you survive, perhaps you become stronger from surviving. 
This seems to bear out in Simon's case as he's become a hardy old man. 
He's 18 yrs. old and still looks forward to his thrice daily meals--- He's starting to get a little fat!
We've already taken him to the vet who said, "He looks good for his age." 
This was before Rachel asked the vet to clip Simon's claws during which he bit me (as I tried to hold him down) and then tried to, unsuccessfully, attack the vet.  This cat's got moxy!

For those of you who might decide to travel abroad with a pet, do your homework first!
In the end, we hustled in the US to meet certain requirements- such as updated shots, implanting microchips, lots of paperwork- including driving to the Department of Agriculture near Annapolis to get some signatures.  This was all to prevent Simon from being quarantined. 

As it turned out, when Rachel finally arrived in Vienna, the customs agent asked for none of this paperwork and let Simon through without as much as a glance!