The Unplanned Christmas Surprise.
The Christmas surprise certainly wasn’t planned. That’s why it qualifies as a surprise. We were adopted by an unusual cat. We have several feral cats in our neighborhood. This story stretches way beyond the typical length recommended for a blog article. It may end up being as many as five of six, along with pix and vids. And so it goes . . .
Beyond Our Backyard
Just beyond our backyard is a rather large recharge area that stretches for acres. The feral cats live there. They are fed by the crazy cat lady who lives next door to us. At first, I thought it was just another wild cat. We chase them off without injuring them. They tend to fight and piss on the house. Needless to say, this is an undesirable problem.
The feral cat population tends to be transient, kind of like the homeless people population. Figuring this one was another new addition to the herd, we tried our best to run him off. I chased him with a flailing broom. I sicked our slow fat dog on him (What a joke!). The kitten would have none of it. The dog was not a threat to him. It appears like he was hip to dogs. He merely looked at me and my broom curiously.
This Was a Lean And Thin Kitten
He was much leaner and noticeably younger than the other indigenous felines and he was getting thinner. We asked the crazy cat lady if she was feeding him. She said she had never seen him at all. He wouldn’t leave our yard. The only food we had besides wild lizards was dog kibble. Toby, being the good-hearted dog he is, shared a couple of tablespoons with the orange tabby who refused to leave. He attacked it like a starving Armenian (Look it up, kids). Of course, that wasn’t the brightest way to run off a stray cat. It’s another case of the heart overcoming the better judgment of the mind. Did I mention that he was very friendly? Very . . . Well, with the dog, not so much at first.
A soft Heart and a Cold Weekend
I don’t know how it happened, but the next thing I know he has a bed on a lounge chair on the lanai. He is eating out there too. No “in the house” cat for us, no sir! Along comes Christmas weekend 2022, and the first serious cold spell of the year. The best laid plans of soft hearted couples never last the first cold snap! Danged if I don’t drag the chair/bed into the living room! He was a great house guest! It stayed cold for several nights. He stayed in each night and voluntarily went back out straight away after breakfast each morning.
Time to 86 The Dog Food Diet
Oh yes, I failed to mention. The boss decided it was unseemly to feed him dog food. Sadly, one can never just run into a store and buy the first bag of kitty food one finds on the shelf. No sir, research needs to be done regarding protein content and secondary byproducts in each brand. She agonized over this for longer than I care to say. She may be a little OCD, but I love her anyway!!
This certainly gave us plenty to talk about over the Christmas weekend. By Monday morning, we decided to take him to the vet across the street. So, we packed him in a box and trundled across the road to the vet. He took the trip like a pro. It turns out that he was chipped. We also now had his date of birth, when he was vaccinated and neutered. Oh, yeah, his prior name too. You’ll know why I say ‘prior’ in a moment. He lived almost to Brandon. I have no idea how he could have gotten over here. He certainly didn’t walk. It’s about 20 miles across a half dozen six lane roads. His previous name was . . . Mamoa! No shit! Well, we changed that in a Southern Fried second. He is now Little Orphan Andy.
