Cat Tales
So, I guess, I have another cat. That makes six for those of you keeping track. The most I have had at one time is seven, and I am NOT looking to break that record.
For the past few months, I’ve been caring for an outdoor cat named King. He is a very friendly black cat with yellow eyes. I imagine the cats in the kennel caught his attention and he started hanging around. And, of course, I started feeding him because he was a skinny boy. He started showing up regularly in the mornings and evenings for food. I would always get startled when I saw two yellow eyeballs looking in through the kitchen window at night.
He showed up one day with a gash on his head. I have no idea what from, but he was also missing a lot of fur around the cut. I cleaned it and treated it for days. It wasn’t deep and cleared up just fine on its own. After that I noticed his pupils dilated slightly differently, probably as a result of the head injury. I also dewormed him because the skinny boy was not gaining any weight.
He took to sleeping on top of the kennel or on the awning over my back door. I would call him the Furry Gargoyle. He also enjoyed napping on top of the mesh part of the kennel, like a hammock. In the past few weeks, he didn’t stray far from the backyard. He started to even come inside to eat meals.
One day, he didn’t show up for breakfast or dinner and I was concerned. He finally showed up the next evening with a gooey eyeball and his head and neck were covered in scratches. I gave him Latte’s leftover antibiotics for a few days, cleaned his eye and his wounds multiple times a day. Then it started to rain. I opened the door and he came inside. He has been in my house for over a week and is doing very well.
He also got a bath, because he smelled horrible. He surprisingly did very well and didn’t try to claw me to death.
His eye looks great, wounds are healing and he really enjoys sleeping on the futon in my office. Surprisingly, the other cats are handling it pretty well. Latte loves him, Yeti watches from afar, Mocha only gets mad when he tries to play with her string, Bigfoot hisses and growls and King doesn’t even flinch. Pumpkin, the tiny little orange tabby, actually screams at King. It’s hilarious. She runs up to him and swats at him. He will back up a little bit. She’s the only cat he backs away from. He tries so hard to get her to play.
He is not a fan of Pepper the dog. Pepper isn’t going to hurt him, but she barks and chases him and he runs and hides.
King has figured out the door to the kennel and enjoys going out there. He often sits in the entryway and watches whatever is going on in the kitchen.
He is quite comfortable inside the house and he’s not going back outside. So, I guess, I have another cat.
