Oh, the indignity of it all!

Our venerable porch cat Mr. Jones (aka Scuffy, Boss Cat, etc.) has a new moniker, courtesy of my neighbour's nearly-four-year-old daughter: Sparkle Tail the Girl Cat. Where she got this, I don't know: she's not a TV-watching child, much to her mother's chagrin. I'm going to ask her when he can be a Boy Cat again.

For at least a couple of years now both I and my neighbours have been feeding him every morning, and at least three other people on the street have contributed food and warm bedding. Another person has tried (unsuccessfully, so far) to get someone to contribute a recovery room for a couple of days, in hopes we can catch him, get him fixed, and release him in the 'hood.

In mid-winter he disappeared for nearly a month---when he reappeared at my front door in early February (http://diabetes-cats.blogspot.com/2009/02/cat-came-back.html) he'd lost half his winter weight. Now the summer fleas are causing him to suffer somewhat.

Mr. Jones's history is unknown. But one of my neighbours keeps tabs on where he hangs out. When we first started discussing him she swore he'd been around for at least five years. Then it became ten years. We chatted on the street earlier this week and she gave me an update on her observations, and now she claims he's been around for 20 years...

Mr. Jones has a couple of quirks: while he waits for me to come downstairs he stretches up to the window to peer in. When he sees me he sits back down. When I open the front door he steps politely into the hallway, then goes back out. When I put his food in his dish he sniffs it, looks up at me, and waits for me to pat him. Only then will he put his head down to eat.

What's really pathetic is that lately he is trying to walk further into the house when I open the door. My heart is breaking because, with four indoor cats already, and his unknown temperament and health, I can't let him in.

But my four indoor cats are complacent when he appears (unlike their reaction to other outdoor cats they see), and he and Peabo have sniffed noses. So, could he come in?

The Cat Came Back!

We thought he was a goner but the cat came back! My neighbours and I have been feeding and caring for a feral (probably abandoned) old tom who sleeps on our porches and in our sheds. I think he likes me the best, though---he'll follow me down the street, let me pat him and (very briefly) pick him up, accepts pats and scritches, rolls on his side for side pats, though not on his belly! And he has him some pretty sharp ends. He's called Mr. Jones, BossCat, Old Cat, Mr. McScuffersons/Scuffy, Scruffy, and Him.

On Saturday afternoon I glanced at my front door and there was the pathetic face of Mr. Jones peering in---he had been missing for over a month. I rushed to pat him and check his condition. His paws were a bit bloody, and while he gets scrawny and fleabitten in summer he tends to put on the fat and fur when fall arrives. The last time I saw him, around New Year's, I couldn't feel his ribs he was so chubby (and I got my cat sitter Ol to put out food for him). But he vanished and we thought he was a goner. I think he was trapped in someone's garage or shed, because otherwise he'd be fatter since several of us feed him at least twice a day!

After I put out some kibble with warm water, I immediately notified my neighbour Sus who brought over a bed with warm supplies and some canned food; yesterday she dropped off an octagonal coffee table with a door in the base that we'll try to put his bed in so he'll have more shelter. Although he didn't take to the bed at first, when I looked out a half hour later he was snuggled up warmly. And I'm sure my neighbours Cor and Dar and Liz will start bringing him his once or twice daily can again. And I have printed up some fliers to drop in mailboxes on the street asking for a dollar or two towards his vaccinations and neutering, so he can live on the street but not contribute to the unwanted kitten population (I think he is Peabo's daddy).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/15779729@N06/3261365924/

My poor guy. I didn't note this before, but he lost the tip of an ear due to frostbite.