One Step Closer to 'Crazy Cat Lady'

So, there's this kitty...

We first saw her in the backyard in early November. Sawyer would go outside and get all agitated, which would cause him to back up until his butt was pressed against the french doors. (Pressing his butt against something makes him feel more secure.) I think every time he went outside and saw her, he was torn between wanting to meet her and being scared that she'd smack the shit out of him.

I took the first photo of her on November 6th, 2008.

Isn't she cute?

In early December, we started seeing her in the backyard for longer and longer periods of time. Since she seemed to be spending so much time in our backyard, we started putting out some 'neighborhood kitty' food for her. (We used to put cat food out every day for the various 'neighborhood kitties', but then we realized it was mostly really, really fat sparrows, raccoons and possums that were eating the food.)

When it started to get colder, we created a little kitty sleep nest out of a plastic tote with a small hole cut into one end and a few blankets that we put under our bar/gazebo so it would be out of the rain and snow. When we went back outside to refill her food dish or just to see how she was doing, she started mew-ing and came over to see us so we'd pet her. She was very shy, but also very affectionate, as long we crouched down to make ourselves seem less like scary giants and didn't try to pick her up.

A close-up of the kitty on December 12, 2008.

The bar/gazebo started out covered with only its usual canopy, but then we did our "winterizing" of it, which involved wrapping large tarps all the way around the sides and top and holding the tarps in place with bungee cords. We needed to do it anyway, and we thought that would help her stay a bit warmer.

When it got even colder (around December 13th), we decided to let her come inside if she wanted to. This was after she had snuck in once, by slipping under the puppy's belly while he stood in the doorway and 'decided' whether or not he wanted to go outside. She only stayed in for about a minute that time.

When she first started coming in, she would only stay for a few minutes at a time. As she got more comfortable being inside - and as it got colder - she'd stay inside longer. She slowly started exploring the house when she'd come in, checking out a different area during each visit.

Eventually she jumped up on the couch and would sleep up there for a few hours at a time. The first couple of days she came in for longer periods of time, she'd spend 5 or 6 hours sleeping on the couch during the late afternoon and evening, but always wanted to go outside at bedtime to sleep in her little hut.

One night the weather was going to be so cold that we decided to just keep her in for the night, since we knew she would probably meow to let us know if she wanted or needed to go outside. Apparently that night inside led her to realize she liked being around the puppy and people, or just liked the warmth inside, so she started spending more and more time inside. She now is pretty much an inside kitty. She goes outside, usually when there's a squirrel in the backyard (so she can chase them around on the tree) or when Sawyer goes out.

We started calling her "Kate" because she and Sawyer seem to love each other. (Like Kate and Sawyer on Lost.) Whenever she used to come in, she'd look around for the puppy. Whenever Sawyer went outside, he would check to see if the kitty was anywhere in the backyard. They spend quite a bit of time together now.

He's become the mediator between Kate and the two kitties we had before... If one of the kitties starts growling or hissing at another kitty, he'll go over to one of them and touch noses with them or sniff around their face. Then he'll go up to the other kitty and do the same thing. He seems to be able to diffuse the situation pretty quickly. He also seems to be able to sense when there's a disagreement brewing, even when he's outside and all the kitties are inside. It's quite interesting.

So, we'll keep checking the "lost pet" ads on various websites to make sure she doesn't belong to anyone, but in the meantime, she'll live here. We'll have to take her to the vet soon to make sure she's healthy, so she won't infect the kitties already living here with anything. We'll also find out if she's already been fixed or if she needs to be.

I have hope that she and Azrael and Callie will all eventually get along, once they get the pecking order firmly established. If Kate ends up spending most of her time with Sawyer, that's fine with me (and with Sawyer). I'll probably be posting some photo blogs with pictures of the kitty.

Until I do, though, enjoy this one!