Long story, so I will make it as short as I can. Last year, a beautiful Harlequin kitty showed up in my yard. She was very shy and skinny, and nobody could get close to her. After two weeks of gentle persuasion and giving her food, she finally came around and eventually would let me pet her. I call her "Spot". I figured she was feral, because I was always picking ticks off her, and she was very unkempt.
Around election day, I decided the best thing to do was to try and find her owner. I made up a flyer, and put it up in the local polling place. I got several calls, but the first one was very convincing. He not only knew she had different color eyes (not evident in the photo), but when he knocked on my door he had her in his arms. He told me it was his wife's cat and that they were separated now, but she would be happy to have her back. We exchanged information and he took her "home". She was back within a couple of days, but I didn't feed her. After a week, I called the lady and told her her cat hadn't eaten in a week and to come get her. She never did, but eventually Spot wandered off.
This spring she showed up again, a changed kitty. She was roly poly and affectionate. And she absolutely adores us. I gave her a couple of treats at first because I wanted her to know she could come visit, but one night she seemed to be desperate for food, so I did something stupid and started to feed her again. Several weeks went by, and the guilt was heavy on my conscience. Someone must have taken her in and loved her, and was probably missing her right now. So I fed her one more time, told her she had to go home and let her watch me pick up the food bowls.
That was over a week ago, and she is still here. Every time we go out (which is often since we smoke on our porch). She isn't begging for food, but is definitely thinner - but it could be the increased activity. And today she brought us a mouse and left it on our porch. I don't know what that means to a cat - mine are strictly indoors. I remember it is a present (my barn cats used to bring us mice when I was a child), but does it mean she has chosen us?
I guess I am just not sure what to do. For now, I will continue to keep an eye on her. I would take her in in a heartbeat, but I have a 14-year old with liver issues, and the last time I tried to introduce another adult cat he stopped eating, so I had to rehome her. I can't do that again - I couldn't bear the heartbreak. I don't know what to do if she gets sick, or shows up covered in ticks again, and if she is here all summer I will be tempted to bring her in come winter. I don't know if she is going home, or if she remembers where home is. She obviously loves us, and begs for affection, so it is entirely possible that whoever else is caring for her now provides food only, but then why did she show up such a changed kitty? And if she loved it there so much, why won't she go back?
I want her to go home, but I want her to come visit - she has been around now for close to a year. Am I just an idiot for caring?
