There are a lot of stray cats where we live now. Where we used to live, stray cats didn’t last long … large coyote population. I hear a coyote now and then. Maybe a handful of times in the four plus years we’ve lived here. Where we were before, it was nightly.

I put a lot of food out for the birds. A seed mix for the wee ones and cat kibble for the crows, starlings, and grackles. The doves also eat some of the kibble, but mainly they go for the seeds. I also feed the squirrels. The neighbor’s chickens talk to me all the time and I throw seeds over the fence for them. We have a fairly large wild critter food budget. I can’t seem to help myself.

I don’t remember exactly when it was that his one small tuxedo cat started coming around and eating the crow kibble. It might have been mid-summer.

I felt sorry for the cat having to compete with the grackles and starlings (the crows are mainly only here late fall through the winter) and started putting some food in a bowl for it.

Tuxedo Cat would come every day around the same time for some kibble. Then TC would leave and head back down a street perpendicular to ours. Because of the timing during the week (early morning like TC’s people were leaving for work) and later on the weekends (TC’s people sleeping in), I figured TC got booted out of the house every day to roam the neighborhood.

But all of a sudden, TC was here a lot more. At all odd hours of the day. Bernd went around to some neighbors and it seemed the consensus was that TC’s people had moved away and not taken the cat.

Kind of upset me a lot. Was outraged actually. Told Bernd that I really hate people sometimes.

By this time, it was starting to be downright cold overnight and I started to worry.

We have a cat, Miss Fuzzy Pants, who was a stray. She is old and underweight. She’s not very strong. Just petting her, you can knock her over.

She’s hyperthyroid and on medication every 12 hours to try to control it. Her appetite is spotty. She has her routines and favorite places to sleep. One of them is in my lap every night, around 7:00 p.m. without fail. She follows me around the house, meowing, until I sit down and make a lap for her.

TC is young and healthy. Strong and energetic with a voracious appetite. As badly as I would like to take her into our household, it wouldn’t be fair to Miss Fuzzy Pants.

So we ordered a heated cat house. Waiting for it to arrive, I made a cardboard box house, covered it with black plastic and put a large folded towel in it. TC used it readily.

The heated house arrived. We set it up. But TC wouldn’t use it. TC spent most of the winter nights somewhere other than with us. I worried when several days would go buy and we didn’t see her.

Bernd thought maybe someone else had taken her in. So I put a tag on her. I’d asked to please let me know if that was now their cat and gave my phone number. No response after a week.

We had put the plastic covered cardboard box back in place (in addition to leaving the heated house in place just in case) because it was better than nothing and TC started hanging around even more and using the box overnight.

In the beginning, TC was timid and deferential to other cats that came around looking for food. Then it started to change.

We decided to modify the heated cat house. We got rid of the hood over the door. We took out the heating pad and put the folded towel from the box in its place. We secured the door flap in an open position.

I put a bowl of food in the house and TC got right in and started eating. She has continued to use the house. And … she is now defending it against all comers. We figure she’s decided we are hers and so is everything else that is ours.

She’s moved in. So we’ve named her Mouse. She has a squeaky little meow and I’ve always wanted to name a cat either Mouse or Bird. She’s sweet and very friendly. And just yesterday I got some love licks. The day before that, I got a love bite.

She’s explored the garage and is getting to know the backyard. Miss Fuzzy Pants hisses and growls if Mouse comes near her when we are all (including our dog, Maddie) in the backyard. But it never goes (yet) beyond that. And Mouse hasn’t made a hiss or growl in response. And Maddie tolerates her well enough when Mouse head butts her and rubs up against her.

Some people have barn cats. We have Mouse.

I read recently that it is illegal in Australia to help stray cats. But, I think it was in Turkey that everyone provides shelter and food for all strays. Sounds like my kind of people.

Here, I know of one other woman near us who puts out food for the strays. For the most part, though, they are on their own. And the overnight temps in the dead of winter are frequently in the negative teens.

I considered calling our animal control lady (it’s a very small city and we have just the one), but Bernd thought Mouse would not be happy in a cage. He thought we could do a good enough job of caring for her. So here we are.

I like our little Mouse and am happy to have her in my life. I hope she is happy too.

Images courtesy of Catster and Pinterest, respectively.