It is not uncommon for cats—tiger cats, Tom cats, gray and white cats (don't think I've seen a black cat yet)—to traverse our yard during their daily jaunts. Some of them seem to have owners and the more skittish of the bunch take up their residence in a nearby barn. Until this week, they'd all kept their distance, particularly if I was out in the yard with our Boxer.
This week I was out with Jojo, and she was playing with the puppy next door who has found every hole in our fence to shimmy through. It was colder than I expected, so I came back in the house to grab some gloves. By the time I got back to the yard, the dogs were inspecting something in the middle of the yard—a small gray cat.
Now most cats when faced with dogs will do one of two things: run like hell or hiss and scratch at their faces. This cat did neither. Jojo and the pup were going wild, running away and then bounding back toward the cat and lunging at it. I wasn't sure if it was hurt or stupid, so I picked it up in an attempt to keep it from getting trampled. It didn't particularly like being held, but it also didn't put up much of a fight.
I wasn't sure which direction it had come from, but I was pretty certain the dogs would continue to bat it around like a play thing. A neighbor was passing by and said he didn't know the cat's origin but he went to my other neighbor's to inquire. Not hers either.
Every time I tried to get the cat away from the dogs, it followed me back to where they were. I inspected his paws to see if he had claws. But even cats who've been declawed will usually bat at their foes with their paws. He had them, but they were small and he never seemed to use them. He also had a tiny piece of his ear missing along with a large chunk of hair behind that ear (an old wound) as well as a fresher scab on his lip. Either he'd fought a good fight and lost or he just didn't know how to fight at all. I finally had to give up and take Jojo back inside and hope that the black pup would go back to her yard.
I didn't see much of the cat until the next day. There he was sitting on the other side of my sliding glass door crying for food. I'd been worried that he wasn't fast enough or smart enough to get his own food, but he knew what to do. Sitting there looking all cute and pathetic at once, he folded me like a paper napkin. I brought him some tuna in a matter of minutes. But, I didn't let him in the house.
When Alex got home, he warned of the dropping temperatures. We should bring the cat inside. So we did.
Jojo is unsure what to think of this new snuggle buddy/interloper. At first, she acted much like she did outside. Lunging at the cat and sniffing suspiciously at him. But she finally got tired and lay down, and the kitty came and lay down right beside her.
She likes to keep her eye on him. If she realizes she doesn't know where he is, she'll run around the house with her head perked up. She also likes to eat kitty chow, and he takes bites from her bowl as well. To her credit, she's never growled at him or snapped. However, she is clearly jealous that he can jump up on my lap when I'm at my computer. We had an unfortunate incident with Jojo and the litter box, but nothing that a baby gate can't fix.
So, it looks like Diego is ours. At least until someone claims him. But out here in the country, I don't think that's likely.
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