“This is too good not to share,” I thought when I logged onto Facebook late Sunday night and saw that one of my baby brothers (brother four out of five) had posted 20 photos of himself and one of the stray cats that frequent our childhood home in Manila.

It warms my heart when I see how my siblings have taken to animals, considering we were never allowed to have a dog or cat growing up. Predictably, I melted into a puddle seeing my teenage brother, Michael, upload these images into an album he titled “My Buddy and I.” I mean, a kid his age should be playing video games or something instead of looking adorable with cats on the Philippine streets, right?

Michael’s a bit of a budding photographer and videographer; the kind of guy who will take a GoPro underwater or hook it up to his bike before taking a spin — so I wasn’t surprised by the amazing quality of his selfies.

“Tell me about your buddy,” I prompted him in the comments. “I want to put him on Catster.”

“His name is Dexter, but people call him Tugboat,” he replied. “He is the biggest cat I have ever seen!” This is an amazing name for a cat, I thought, but as of this writing am still waiting on an explanation for it.

One of our neighbors had apparently rescued him from the nearby Manila Polo Club, where many homeless cats roam.

“His daily routine includes chasing birds in the morning and killing roaches at night,” said Michael.

“I often chill with him when I’m bored or when I’m in need of a friend.”

“He often hides, but when I’m around he stays with me.”

“The rest of the time he is dead asleep.”

Credits: All photos by Michael Kahn

About the Author: Janine is your typical annoying Aries overachiever with nine human siblings, three kitty nephews, and a soft spot for sighthounds. She is a tattoo collector, tea drinker, and unabashedly into marshmallows and cheesy musicals. She runs the show as editor-in-chief of Dogster and Catster.