A Tale of Two Kitties
Oct. 13th, 2010 02:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
forest_choirA calico cat has been hanging out near our house for a couple of years. She's completely feral. We've seen her as much as half a mile away, hunting mice in the ditches and lurking near our bird feeder. We can't get near her.
She runs from everyone.
Sometimes we see her nearer to the house, curled up near our cars.
We needed something to call her, so we decided on Moggie.
She still stalks the birds in the garden occasionally.
She lives in the woods during the warm months, but crawls under our house and garden shed in the wintertime. It's because of her that we've had no mice in the house for the past two winters. ♥
Over the past few weeks, I've been hearing a plaintive cat's miaow when I'm outdoors at dusk or at night. Sometimes I'd catch sight of a small calico cat streaking for the treeline. We assumed it was Moggie and merely talked quietly to her while we were outdoors.
Last week, the cat started coming up to the doorstep, but running away when she saw us.
On Sunday evening, I parked my car as usual.
By the time I got to the door, the cat was under my car, miaowing at me.
I called to her softly and her ears pricked up. After a few minutes, I went into the kitchen to see if a dish of milk might coax her out into the open. I put the dish down on the doorstep, sat down and called to her again. She came forward hesitantly, stopping and looking around wildly every time the neighbors' children hollered. Eventually, she got to the milk and drank like a starving thing. She kept an eye on me and watched my hands the entire time. When the bowl was empty, she back off and miaowed at me again. I filled the bowl and she drank it all. A little later, I went out for supper and picked up a couple cans of cat food. When I put one down on the step, she came straight up and started eating. Once, Stormy and I saw both cats together, so we knew we were dealing with two different cats which were very similar in appearance.
I asked him what we should call the second one and he answered, "Maggie, of course."
Last night, as Maggie came up on the steps for her bowl of milk, I held out my hand. She sniffed it cautiously and turned back to the milk. When she was done, she walked back and forth on the step, bumping up against the step and the plant pots. It was then I noticed that she was purring quietly. I held out my hand again and gently stroked her back and tail. Once, I gave her a quick scratch behind the ears and the purring increased. She spent the night on our doorstep.
Stormy said he had to practically step over her to get out the door.
Amused, he emailed me in the morning with, "We has a cat."
She runs from everyone.
Sometimes we see her nearer to the house, curled up near our cars.
We needed something to call her, so we decided on Moggie.
She still stalks the birds in the garden occasionally.
She lives in the woods during the warm months, but crawls under our house and garden shed in the wintertime. It's because of her that we've had no mice in the house for the past two winters. ♥
Over the past few weeks, I've been hearing a plaintive cat's miaow when I'm outdoors at dusk or at night. Sometimes I'd catch sight of a small calico cat streaking for the treeline. We assumed it was Moggie and merely talked quietly to her while we were outdoors.
Last week, the cat started coming up to the doorstep, but running away when she saw us.
On Sunday evening, I parked my car as usual.
By the time I got to the door, the cat was under my car, miaowing at me.
I called to her softly and her ears pricked up. After a few minutes, I went into the kitchen to see if a dish of milk might coax her out into the open. I put the dish down on the doorstep, sat down and called to her again. She came forward hesitantly, stopping and looking around wildly every time the neighbors' children hollered. Eventually, she got to the milk and drank like a starving thing. She kept an eye on me and watched my hands the entire time. When the bowl was empty, she back off and miaowed at me again. I filled the bowl and she drank it all. A little later, I went out for supper and picked up a couple cans of cat food. When I put one down on the step, she came straight up and started eating. Once, Stormy and I saw both cats together, so we knew we were dealing with two different cats which were very similar in appearance.
I asked him what we should call the second one and he answered, "Maggie, of course."
Last night, as Maggie came up on the steps for her bowl of milk, I held out my hand. She sniffed it cautiously and turned back to the milk. When she was done, she walked back and forth on the step, bumping up against the step and the plant pots. It was then I noticed that she was purring quietly. I held out my hand again and gently stroked her back and tail. Once, I gave her a quick scratch behind the ears and the purring increased. She spent the night on our doorstep.
Stormy said he had to practically step over her to get out the door.
Amused, he emailed me in the morning with, "We has a cat."
