Last night Ken and I settled in to watch The Colbert Report online.
Ken: There's a cat on the porch.
Me: What?
Ken: There's a cat on the porch.
Me: What kind of cat?
Ken: A regular cat...looking at me through the window in the door.
Me: You're kidding....No, you're not kidding. Where did a cat come from?
[We have one neighbor on one side and no houses within sight in any other direction. This cat walked 150 feet up from the road, climbed a full set of stairs, and walked the length of the porch to sit in front of the door to our living room.]
Ken: I don't know.
Me: What should we do?
What followed was a conversation about whether to go outside or stay inside and hope it went away. We did the latter while the cat made itself at home on the mat in front of the door. We watched our show and s/he stayed put.
Our son appeared, headed for the porch to send a text message on his phone [remember that we get no cell reception inside and reception outside in one corner of the porch]. His reaction was much the same as ours. He volunteered to go outside to check out the cat. Turns out the cat was friendly and wore a flea collar.
Me: Well, let me call the neighbor to see if it's theirs [I called and left a message]. It's too late to call animal control.
Ken: I don't want that cat in the house.
Me: Okay. I don't think that would be a good idea, either.
Son: Well, what are you going to do?
Me: It's not safe to leave it outside because there are fisher cats in this area [we learned today that there are also coyotes]. We could put it in the garage [which is attached to the house and heated]. Son, why don't you walk it down to the garage.
I wish I had a video of what happened next. Our son walked across the porch, down the stairs, and around to the garage door, and the cat followed right behind. We got the cat into the garage and then talked about what to do next. I thought it was probably hungry, so I opened cat snacks I just bought for my daughter's cats [Not to worry Iz and Beaz, I will get more]. The cat lapped a few tidbits right up, purring the whole time. Then it meeoowwed. I gave it more snacks. Then I shared bits of chicken left over from dinner and put down a bowl of water. The cat stretched and my son saw it was declawed. One eye looks clouded over and there are patches of matted fur under its chin. But friendly! The cat comes right up and rubs your leg. It purrs at the sight of a human. We decided s/he is probably a housecat.
My son put a piece of wool fabric over the rug by the garage door. I needed a name because it didn't feel right to keep calling the cat It. I decided on Leo, which works for Leona or Leonard. We came into the house for the night.
I thought about all we know and wondered about all we don't. Since Leo is probably an inside cat, s/he knows how to use a litter box. Ah, something else Leo needs. I found a box and Speedy Dry, which Ken uses for spills at work, and set up a litter box. Again, I told Leo good night.
This morning I talked to the animal control officer, who told me the local shelter will be under quarantine for at least another week due to an outbreak of something contagious . He could take the cat to a shelter further away, but I told him I'd check around in the next few days to see if I can find the owner. I took Leo a bit of tuna and assured her [I keep thinking of Leo as a she] that we will keep her until we find her a home.
She'd love to come inside and did skitter in while we loading the car for the recycling barn. She walked right through the downstairs like she knew where she was going. Fortunately, she doesn't mind being picked up. I don't think she really minds the garage but wants to be near people.
Then we took Leo's photo to half a dozen places in town to see if anyone recognized her. No takers. I bought dry cat food.
When we got home she was waiting by the garage door, sitting quietly on her haunches on the piece of wool. I petted her and gave her dry food, which she ate right up. I think she's been hungry for awhile. In petting her and picking her up I realized how thin she is under her fur. She doesn't looked well cared for, or she may have been left alone for a period of time.
[While we were gone our neighbor called to say their cats are all accounted for.]
Whatever her story, Leo will be with us for a few days. She's gentle, personable, and obviously starved for food and attention. Ken and I don't want to own a cat right now, or we would keep her. She would be the perfect pet for a nursing home because of her temperament.
I have never had a stray cat find me before. In fact, I have always been suspicious when someone told me a cat "found" them. Really? How does that happen exactly? Well, now I know, and I live in the middle of nowhere.
5 comments:
I can't stop grinning - not only because I can see the whole thing playing out in my head, but because she found you. She found you in time for the "Blessing of the Animals" and at a time when the shelter is closed, and you had treats on hand and a warm place for her to stay. This will forever be my favorite "found" animal story. xoxox
! I'll have to post about my stray cat story sometime- they are so heartwarming! Do you guys have a no kill shelter or do they put them to sleep if they're not adopted? He (high probability due to orange color) may have been sropped off/abandoned. Wish I could adopt him! We have a neighborhood cat who does the same thing, but we know where he lives.
OH my...what a sweet story. I'll be interested to hear what happens to this sweet cat.
Happened to us about a year ago. Cat and her three newborn kittens. She had been abandoned. We took her and the kittens to the vet. Got shots and de-wormed them. Had her spayed. Eventually the kittens went to our oldest daughter who kept one and farmed out the rest. The cat though had been in the wild too long and wasn't good with our youngest daughter, so we found her a home with a single woman in the city who swore the cat was a ringer for one her late mother had kept.
The kitten our oldest kept had kittens this fall and they are all in new homes now. There had to be a reason the universe sent the first cat our way and that, in my mind, was to spread "cat love" to others.
My husband is not "a cat person" and I am allergic. A stray cat on our property would not work out. However, a year ago (less 5 weeks)an emaciated, lactating Blue Heeler arrived on our NM lot and after two days decided to adopt my husband. She is a man's dog--loves me dearly when he is not available, toleratates me when he is. She has the sweetest personality, barks and protects us from things we cannot see or hear, and makes us laugh daily. How is it that these wonderful animals find and adopt their people? It's a mystery to me; I think we have to trust their instincts.
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