There’s Mystery, named after her still-unexplained appearance on our doorstep as a kitten. And then there’s the other small black cat with green eyes… Mr. Mystery? Mr. E?
He’s been hanging around our house recently. He comes over to the door, looks in like he wants it opened, even meows sometimes, and runs away when we come near. He gulps down the food we left for him like he hasn’t eaten properly in a week. He may not even be a he, for all we know, but Mystery tends to hate other cats, excepting a previous boyfriend (which was a story in and of itself). So boyfriend’s our best guess. He doesn’t have a collar, but then neither does Mystery. (That is to say, any collar we put on Mystery mysteriously disappears within a short while).
We saw them together outside last night. They were sniffing, touching noses. At least one of them was making the warbling howl that Tikva drives everyone crazy with when she wants me to come upstairs and pet her. No sign of aggression from Mystery.
Is Not-Mystery a lost pet? A dumped pet? Something else? Where did he come from? What should we do with him?
If Mystery keeps losing the collars, doesn’t that mean someone is taking them off? Maybe it could be the owner. Why not attach a note to the collar including your contact information?
A good idea, but be prepared that some people just don’t care. I did this to a ginger tomcat that seemed to spend almost all his time hanging around my back yard, as it was getting close to winter and I didn’t want him to freeze. The note went missing, and the cat came back in the spring, so now I just let them feed him while I get to pet him.
Enigma’s still hanging around. Last I heard, he’s been hissing if the person with the food comes too close. He acts like a lost pet in some ways, and a feral in others, and i am so confused.
What should I do when I get back to New Jersey?
There’s nothing you can do. Once you feed a cat, he’s your friend. In this case, as somewhat ungrateful friend, but he’s now your friend and thus your responsibility.
Just make sure your cats have their shots and I assume they’re fixed, so they won’t have any issues catching things, like rabies or kittens
