That orange cat...

Well, guess who's in charge of the porch now? Orange Kitty. That orange and white stray cat who will soon be celebrating his first anniversary with us. He turned up around Thanksgiving last year, and as more and more months go by, he gets more and more comfortable outside, and now he's sleeping on the porch furniture instead of taking his naps underneath the back steps or under the cottage.

The orange cat has also learned which windows to look through so he can see Sweet Pea, our inside cat. Orange Kitty is head-over-heels in love with Sweet Pea. The orange cat is an un-fixed male; Sweet Pea is a fixed-male but acts like a female (not that there's anything wrong with that). Those two cats meow to one another through the glass windows, and I've seen the orange cat literally climb up on a screen trying to get closer to Sweet Pea. If that cat's claws put holes in the window screens, my husband is going to have a fit.

The orange cat has also discovered the inside of the garage and the chicken-coop-turned-kitty-coop... that's where Mickey spends his nights, and that is strictly Mickey's territory. The orange cat walked in there the other day and I heard Mickey howling for all he was worth... and he's an older cat and his howls are usually pitifully low, but that morning, they probably heard Mickey all over the county.

Orange Kitty started his sojourn here with every-other-week visits... which turned into once a week encounters.... which turned into daily meanderings around our porch.  I didn't feed him at all in the beginning because I didn't want another cat. (Still don't.)

But that orange cat was patient.... he didn't care that he wasn't eating here. He kept coming back for the company of our outside cats, plus in his kitty-heart-of-hearts, he knew that I didn't want another cat. (Still don't.)

When the weather turned cold in December and January of last year, there was that orange cat, skin and bones, meowing on our back porch. How could I not feed him at that point? It was blessedly cold out there, and that cat was a furry toothpick on four paws. "Okay, okay, you win.... here's some Meow Mix, but I don't want another cat."  (Still don't.)

We have tried to catch him so many times over the past months..... the catch/release trap didn't work, the cat carrier didn't work, a can of sardines didn't work, and just this week, I've been trying to catch him with a blanket. That orange cat is still laughing at that attempt, I'm sure.

I would give anything to have this cat away from our property. But I won't let him go hungry as long as he's out on our porch.

And right now as I type, Orange Kitty is sound asleep on the biggest and most comfortable chair on that porch. He desperately wants this house as his home. I have not tried to pet him.... and I walk outside with an umbrella or a broom held down next to my legs, just to keep him away from me. I have told that cat thousands of times over all these months that I don't want another cat. (Still don't.)

I looked at the orange cat today and said out loud "Don't you want to go somewhere else?"
And Orange Kitty probably said "Still don't."