I seem to have acquired a third cat. Phooey.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I went out to dinner with my sister and her husband on Saturday, getting home around 9. My two cats, Zebulon and Jezebel, didn’t saunter to the front door to greet me, which was odd – but the reason why was even odder: they were watching a strange gray cat who was sitting in the middle of the stairs to the second floor.

The kids have their own door, because they’re free-range kitties. We’ll occasionally get a feline visitor – there’s a fat, long-haired cat that comes in a couple of times a week to see if there’s anything interesting in the catfood bowls, but a sharp “hey” from me is usually enough to get him waddling back out.

This guy, though – I chased him out, but he was back in about 5 minutes later. And since it was already cold out and forecast to go down to about 20, I just didn’t feel right throwing him out. And I only fed him because otherwise he was going to eat Zeb and Jez’s food, and that’s just not fair.

They don’t seem to mind him – more bemusement than hostility, no hissing or tail fluffing or growling, just serious watchfulness.

He let me pet him, and he doesn’t appear too ratty looking – solid and well-groomed. Though he fell on the food I gave him with gusto (he ate an entire 6-ounce can of somethingorother), he hasn’t missed a huge number of meals.

So, after discussing it with BlueKangaroo, with whom I was chatting on IM, I decided to let him stay.

Sunday morning, I threw him out and blocked the cat door, with a stern valedictory “Go home!” He didn’t – or perhaps his idea of “home” and mine are two different things? He snuck back in about 15 minutes later, so I threw him out again and fastened the cat door more carefully. This meant my guys were stuck inside all day, which wasn’t too bad because it’s the middle of winter, it’s not like there’s oodles of cool stuff to do outside. Of course, when they finally went out around suppertime, Mr. Gray came back in with them. Another cold night was predicted – you know where this is going, right?

After a nice warm day Monday, it snowed all day Tuesday and Tuesday night; we ended up with 5 or 6 inches all told. Snow on the ground yesterday, and today it’s bitter cold – a high of 23 is predicted, but we’re not there yet.

So Mr. Gray is up on the guestroom bed, and Jez and Zeb are on my bed.

I hope it warms up soon so he can go home. Otherwise I guess I’ll have to poke and prod the budget and find the money for a vet visit for Mr. Gray.

2

Feh. Good luck wit dat. :smiley:

We’ve got a couple grays. One that we got from a co-worker (Little Gray) and one who strayed her way into our hearts (Other Gray). Neither of them have any intention of going anywhere. Which is as it should be.

Ha-ha! You have three cats!!!

3

One of your neighbours is likely missing their cat. Is the new cat chipped?

4

I would have to take him to the vet to find out. I don’t have the money for an extra vet trip right now.

Maybe I should put up some fliers.

5

At least you won’t have any trouble coming up with a name; Dorian.

Or do you need something with a ‘z’ in it?

6

Heh. I’m thinking “Zane.” :wink:

7

Good one.

8

Thousands of Cat’s are losing their jobs every day…You should put him to work.

:cool:

Working Class Cats

9

The fliers are a good idea. One year we left on an extended Thanksgiving with relatives. One of our two cats decided he didn’t like the house sitter and dashed out of an open door to go live next door for the duration.

The guy next door has six cats and a cat door. Mostly his cats chase off other cats, but our grey stripey guy just moved in. He had a house sitter, too, so it wasn’t noticed until he came back. He recognized all the cats, the sitter just saw multiple cats in various rooms.

So, there might be someone out there that you can deliver your guy to. And if they’re close by, you don’t need to feel guilty about shoving him back outside.

10

Isn’t it a bad idea to keep your cats with new strayish cat? Actually, now that I think about it, I suppose it doesn’t matter, since they can go outside anyway.

11

HA-ha, twickster has three cats now!

Trust me, I know this. They’re all, “I’m hungry and lost and terrified”, and then no one claims them for a couple of weeks, and you’re taking her to the vet for shots if she’s going to be in your house, and poof you have a fourth cat and an extra litterbox to clean. eyes Lily sternly

12

Fliers, and asking neighborhood kids. Loss of a pet travels fast amongst the younger set.

Do vets charge for a chip check?

13

Too bad it’s not a female, you could name her “Lady Jane”

Twin, my third cat is also gray, and long haired. Another thing we have in common.

14

This last July my dog brought home a 6ish week old tortie kitten. I promised my hubby that it would be an outside kitty.

She likes to sleep on me at night.

15

I’ve got one of those, and she sleeps on me every night! Such cool cats.

16

With Zebulon and Jezebel already there? He’s gonna need a name with more panache, like Zachariah, if he’s gonna hold his own. (Like I could give advice to a cat lady. :D)

17

What is it about grays? Years ago I had a gray tabby (Lucy) and a tuxedo (Ricky) and one night there were two grays at the food dish. We must have let them in one at a time without looking too closely. Hey, it’s gray, it must live here. Ricky and Lucy had no problem with the newbie, but he was chucked back outside after he ate.

Congrats on the new cat, but good luck with the fliers anyway. :slight_smile:

18

Oops – I forgot my obligation to provide photographic documentation of the cast of characters.

Soon after I wrote the OP, I turned off the computer and headed out for my “thing-a-day” picture-taking walk around the neighborhood. Mr. Gray had been eating lunch, but by the time I got bundled up and ready to go (it’s frikkin’ cold here today, I think I mentioned that), he’d gone out the cat door and was headed quite purposefully down the street. “Aha,” I thought, he’s headed home." (No, I didn’t follow him – he was going up and down various steps, trying to shake me.)

Took my walk, came home, and started sorting out some old paperwork while I watched My Fair Lady. Mr. Gray showed up about three hours after he left, went upstairs, came back down – and made himself at home on the numero uno kitty perch, the fuzzy shelf right next to my computer. Of course, once I turned on the computer, he decided to go back upstairs.

For comparison’s sake, here is Jez in the same spot; Zeb doesn’t hang out there as often, but did just the other day. (And just because I know there’s no such thing as too many kitty pix, here’sthe two of them together on it when they were babies.)

19

Congratulations. :slight_smile:

Lucky cat that he found and adopted you!

When you can scrape some extra funds together, you should install one of these (but get 3 keys!!) Over time, it’ll be cheaper than extra cat food and vet bills!