Kitty come back!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

My parents, who are in their mid 70s, have always loved pets. We always had multiple pets when I was growing up. A couple of years ago, they downsized, moving into a mobile home community for seniors. At the time, they were down to one cat, Pester1, who was a senior himself.

About a month and a half ago, Mom told me the sad news that Pester had a stoke, and had to be put down. He was almost 18, so he had a great run. For the first time in 51 years, my parents do not have a pet. That’s two years longer than I, the eldest child, have been alive!

This past Friday night, Mom sent me a text: “Look who came to visit!” She sent a picture of Dad with a beautiful orange tabby on his lap. Apparently they were sitting on their back deck enjoying their wine, when this cat wandered along and decided some attention was in order. She said they’d seen it around before, but this was the first time it came up to them. The thing is, their community has a strict rule that cats are to be kept indoors, or on a leach or harness. They aren’t supposed to be loose roaming the community.

Yesterday (Saturday) morning, Mom texted saying it turns out the cat doesn’t have a home, and that “stupid people left him when they moved.” (I don’t know how she found this out). So they’ve decided to give him a home. My wife said to my mom, “see, the world saw your void, and gave you a cat!”

They went out and bought food and things, and last night they sat out on their deck again… but no sign of the cat.

I haven’t heard from them this morning, but I’m sure they would have told me if they’d found the cat. I really hope he comes back. My parents are so excited about this! They’ll be really bummed out if they don’t see him again.

1Pester was a black and white cow kitty. His original name was Pepper. He was a very in-your-face cat, so his name got altered early on.

2

Just leave food out. He’ll find it. Once he knows there’s a reliable source of food there, he’ll return regularly, probably hang out nearby. If it was already somebody’s pet, he’ll warm up real fast.

3

And, of course, within five minutes of posting my OP, I got a text from Mom. He showed up this morning, and they brought him in. He’s eating like crazy!

They’re a little worried if it’s going to work out. She says he’s young a a little wild, and used to being outside. Hopefully he’ll adapt to being an indoor cat.

4

Leaving food out is a good idea. It’s a tried and true strategy for cat luring. If, for some reason, Orange Kitty doesn’t work out, there are a lot of wonderful cats looking for a home.

5

Ok, here we go: Mom sent me this picture. Of him eating with his tongue sticking out.

6

Mom says he ate a can of food, and two bowls of dry food. He seems to be happy so far.

Ok, I’ll stop now. :slightly_smiling_face:

7

Dang it, I’m putting the links to these pics on their own line, but they won’t show up inline. Is it because they’re on Drive?

8

Cat looks very happy. I’m glad it’s working out.

Have your parents named him yet?

9

They should get him neutered, if he’s not already.

And as the place they’re living allows cats on leashes, try getting him used to a harness and leash – starting inside, and starting with just wearing the harness occasionally.

And play with him a lot – keep him worn out. Though right now he’s probably worn out from being hungry and homeless, and may sleep a lot for the first week or two.

Congratulations to all concerned!

10

I asked them yesterday, and they weren’t sure about a name. I suggested that I ask their granddaughter if she wanted to come up with a name. We used to have an orange tabby named Oliver, after the movie Oliver and Company. So my daughter decided on “Twist.”

My parents have decided to go with the full name: Oliver Twist.

My parents have always been responsible pet owners. They will get him to the vet ASAP to get him checked out and vaccinated, and snipped if he hasn’t been already. I don’t even have to ask them about that. :slight_smile:

Mom has updated me that Twist seems to be perfectly happy sleeping in Dad’s lap all day. He’s using the litter box, and hasn’t made any noise about going outside. It’s sounding like a match made in Heaven.

11

Sometimes a cat who’s been on their own outside decides that they didn’t like it, and associates The Outdoors with being hungry, unpatted, and generally uncared for.

Twist might well be happy just to get inside and safe and fed and patted and taken care of. Still possible that once well recovered and feeling secure he might take to trying to get out, though; I’d be careful for some time.

But yes this is going really well. Thanks much for the good news story!

12

i love orange cats, smart cat there he made a good choice! :smile_cat:

13

What a great ending for all involved! I’m a sucker for orange cats myself (I once heard that Vikings liked them so well that researchers were able to track where the Vikings had been by counting for orange cats).

14

Dis song stuck in my head now thanks to the OP

15

That’s the tune I was thinking of when I titled the thread!

16

The two cats I have now were rescues who had lived hard lives outside. I was worried each time I brought one in but they both settled down very quickly. They like looking out the window but want nothing to do with that outside place. Most cats know a good thing when they get it.

17

This story made me happy. :slightly_smiling_face:

Years ago, my brother and sister-in-law’s beloved pittie passed away. They weren’t going to get another dog right away, but less than a week later a beat-up and bloody rat terrier walked up to them in their driveway. They took him to the vet and got him patched up, tried to find his owner and couldn’t. He became their next beloved doggo.

Funny how the universe fills these gaps.

18

This is very interesting, because we just got adopted by [this handsome boy]*(2020-10-12_05-31-24 | pithecanthropus | Flickr) ourselves. AFAIK he belongs to someone in the neighborhood, but when we first met him he was definitely underfed. Or overactive, or something.

So we’ve been giving him food every day, and he acts like he’s our cat. When I got up today, I could hear him meowing for fresh supplies through the front door. But that brings me to another point, which is that ninety percent of the time he wants to be outside, no matter what the weather is. Roland, as we have decided to call him for convenience, will sometimes come inside and sit with us and the other cats on our bed, but he always wants to go back outside after twenty minutes or so. It’s starting to get cool and rainy here, and I’m also concerned that passersby will think we’re forcing him to stay outside in bad weather, when it’s Roland who’s insisting to stay out there.

*We think he’s male. According to what we’ve read, about eighty percent of orange tabbies are male.

19

Can you make him an outdoor cat shelter?

Googling that phrase should bring you lots of suggestions, both make-your-own and already made ones for sale.

20

I’ve made outdoor cat shelters from old ice coolers. Just cut a hole about 10" square on any two sides, and put an old blanket or towel inside. It’s important there be two openings so he can escape if he needs to.