Yesterday morning #15 showed up here. He chased Somer up the stairs outside and had her cringing against the front door, screaming for rescue. As soon as I opened the door, she darted in, and he ran back down the stairs and turned around and looked at me. I sat down on the top step and spoke to him, and before long he climbed the stairs up to me. A very friendly little thug, this one. He's a pale orange tabby (almost buff), intact (of course), with VERY polydactyl feel and a sharply triangular face with an exceptionally narrow muzzle.
I brought him inside and stuck him in the master bathroom until I could clear the other animals out of the master bedroom. Once in the bedroom, he spent the rest of the day hiding under my dresser. I don't think he's ever been in a house before, because he was quite scared yesterday but still very loving when I dragged him out of his hidey hole to pet him. He was also too upset to eat, which surprised me. If there's one thing my feline strays, ferals, and semi-ferals always do, it's eat, and this boy is quite thin and scraggly. Thankfully, he finally settled down enough to eat last night.
He spent most of last night talking to the other animals through the baby gates - sometimes plaintively, sometimes anxiously, sometimes unpleasantly, sometimes demandingly. In any event, EVERYONE is now well aware of his presence in the bedroom.
This morning he is feeling more comfortable and social. He runs under the bed when he hears me come into the bathroom, but he comes out once I sit on the bedroom floor and call to him. He is just SUCH a love. He purrs and rolls and cuddles and nibbles my ears. He got playful this morning, as well, chasing feathers and grabbing my hand. Unlike many of my previously intact boys, though, he is surprisingly gentle in his play so far. That may change as he becomes more self-assured here, but it's nice to be able to leave the bedroom with my body in one piece for now. He's clearly not at full confidence yet, as he carries his tail at only half-mast. It's an improvement over yesterday, though, when he had his tail clamped firmly between his legs.
I've made an appt tomorrow morning to have him neutered, vaccinated, and given the veterinary once over. Poor boy will feel sickly for a week, I expect, following tomorrow's adventure, but he'll forgive me in time.
It's not like I NEED a 15th cat, but what's a kitty mom to do? I mean, by the time they've managed to make it all the way back to my farm, they've already run a dangerous gauntlet through predator-heavy forest land. How heartless would I have to be to turn them away? Besides, I'm sure this boy is related to Sweet Sweet (also a polydactyl orange tabby who showed up in my barn a few years ago). Maybe Sweet will recognize him as family.
Welcome to Shadowood, New Boy!
Laurie
