Cat Adventures (continued...still...)

So as to be expected the neighbor cat, Joey, continued to visit me this past week. As has been his pattern, he would stop by in the evening and meow at my patio door. Because I'm weak and a total pushover, I would always let him in for a few hours so that he could have a snack and so that we could cuddle and play for a little while. I would always let him back outside when it was my bedtime, and he would usually jump over the fence and go about his way. For the past few days, though, he has been sticking around again. When I let him back out at night, he would sleep on one of my patio chairs. He did this a few times before, but then he would leave during the night and I wouldn't see him until the next day. Lately he has spent the whole night on my patio. When I woke up, he would still be outside, on the chair, and when he woke up and saw me, he would meow and ask for breakfast. Naturally (because I'm weak) I would give him a few treats, cuddle with him, then send him back outside.

Taking a nap.

Yesterday, I admit, I kept him inside longer than usual. We sat on the couch together and watched a long documentary about ancient Greek history. But eventually I put him back outside, he wandered away for a few hours, but then came back and slept on my patio for the evening. This afternoon, though, I got a call from his parents and they said that they haven't seen him for a few days and they wondered if I saw him. I told them that he was sleeping on my patio, and that I'd meet them outside the building so that the could get the cat. As it turns out we live in the same building, on the same floor, and pretty much right across the hall from each other. I told them that he usually comes by my apartment every night and every morning, and I said that I was fine with him sleeping there at night because I've been worried about him getting snatched up by a coyote or some other animal. In my subtle way I was trying to give them a hint that maybe they should consider keeping him in at night, but they didn't seem phased by it. Oh well. So I just told them that I didn't mind that he visited and that if they ever couldn't find him, they could probably look over my fence and see if he was hanging around. After we chatted, we all went back to our apartments. They didn't take the cat with them, but let him play in the grass outside. Two minutes later, he was back in my patio asking to come in. I really think he wants to move in with me. He has certainly made himself at home...

Really, kitty?

Cat Adventures (continued)

So, my cat adventures got more exciting after the first few days. In the beginning, the cat would come by at night every few nights, but it got to the point when he would come by every night at around 9:00 or 10:00. I would give him some food and water and pet him and play with him for a while. But eventually he would sit in front of the screen door and look out like he wanted to go back outside, so I would let him out before going to bed. I thought he would go back to his own home, but he would come back my apartment throughout the night. He'd wake me up at 2:00 in the morning by meowing in my patio or meowing at and scratching my bedroom windows. I got out of bed to check up on him and I put some food and water on the patio but I left him outside. I was hoping that would be enough to make him happy, but he kept coming back later in the night at 4:00 and 6:00 in the morning. It almost felt like I was taking care of an infant that wanted to eat every few hours!

Sitting on the back of the futon.

It got to the point where the cat was starting to come by more frequently and more consistently, so I was starting to worry that he really was a stray. I finally took him in the house and kept him in the house because I was starting to worry about him being out all night. I was afraid that he might be snatched up by another wild animal, like a coyote, or that he might get into a fight with a raccoon or something. At this point I didn't have a litter box, but the cat would often go to the bathroom in the wood chips that are in my patio, so I filled up a Xerox box lid with some of these wood chips and I put it in the bathroom for him. The next morning I had to go to work to attend a few meetings, so I locked the cat in my bathroom with his litter box and some food and water. I went to my meetings then took the rest of the day off to take care of the cat. I immediately went to the store and bought a real litter box and some kitty litter and rushed home to make sure the cat was OK. The cat was fine and it even looked like he used the makeshift litter box, but I set up the real litter box for him to use.

I kept the cat inside with me for the next few days. Although he would often look out the windows or door like he wanted to go out, he seemed pretty happy to be with me. He would play with me, sit on the couch with me while I was watching TV, or sleep on my bed. Whenever I came home from work, he would come out of my bedroom and meow at me.

Getting comfy on my bed.

I knew I had to take the cat to a vet to be scanned for a microchip, so I made an appointment and took him in for a checkup and to be scanned. It turns out that he did have a microchip and the vet was able to find his owners. His owners actually live in my apartment complex, but they were out of town on business or a vacation and had a pet sitter taking care of the cat. Apparently the sitter didn't realize that the cat had not come home for several days. The cat's owners called me and said that he is an indoor-outdoor cat and he really likes to be outside. Obviously they don't care where their cat is late at night or they just assume that he will be OK. They even said that other people have taken the cat in before, thinking he was a stray, but he doesn't like collars "so what can they do."

I left the cat at the vet's office so that they could board him in their kennels until the owners got back from their trip. The vet was nice enough to not charge me for the visit, because he appreciated the fact that I was a good Samaritan and brought the cat in to be checked out. The owners got back from their trip on Monday, and, not surprisingly, the cat was back on my patio on Wednesday night and he has stopped by to visit just about every night since. Obviously he knows where he can get some extra food and more love.

Getting sleepy...

So, apparently I now have joint custody of this cat. Although the owners probably don't know it (or might not even care about it), the cat obviously wants to adopt me as a second mother. Whenever he comes by, I give him some water and a few treats and I play with him and cuddle him, until he wants to go outside again. Usually when I put him out, he sleeps on one of my patio chairs for a few hours, then disappears until the next night when he comes back again. We'll see how long this keeps up...

Cat Adventures

Over the past few weeks I've had a cat visit me at my apartment. Last Thursday night, I was watching TV and then I started to hear some noises in my patio. I went to the sliding screen door and tried to see what was out there, then I suddenly heard some meowing at the foot of the door. A gray cat with dark stripes was looking up at me and then started to meow loudly. I was shocked and started to panic as if someone has left a basket with a baby outside my door. I immediately texted a friend and asked what I should do. She jokingly said that I should let it in and keep it.

Thinking that it might be a stray, I thought it might be hungry or thirsty. So I put out a little bowl of water and the cat drank a little bit. Then I searched my apartment for some kind of food that I could put out. Unfortunately I didn't have an tuna, but I decided to put out some cheese and a few torn up pieces of turkey deli meat. The cat sniffed the food but didn't eat it. Obviously this cat isn't like the cat I used to have who would steal a piece of fried chicken, pizza, or bacon and eggs right out of your hands. Eventually the cat ate a few pieces of turkey, but he really wanted to come inside my apartment. (I call the cat a he, but I don't really know if it's a boy or a girl.) I stuck my arm out to pet him, and he seemed healthy. He wasn't skinny and it seemed like his coat was in good shape. Unfortunately he didn't have a collar, though. He would sometimes just sit in front of my screen door, sometimes he would just make himself at home and sit in the middle of my patio, and other times he would sit on my patio fence. Eventually I had to go to bed, but I left out the food and water in case he got thirsty or hungry.

The next morning, I looked out on my patio and he wasn't there. But later that afternoon I went to the store and bought a few cans of wet cat food and a small bag of dry kitty treats so that I would be prepared if he came back that night. But he didn't come back. In fact I didn't see him or hear him at all for the past week. But then he came back again last night.

Again, I was watching TV and he showed up at about the same time last week. I was watching the local evening news and then I heard meowing at my screen door again. This time I was prepared. I put some of the wet cat food on a plate and put it on the patio for him. But he wasn't interested in it. He just wanted to come in. So I texted my friend again and asked her what I should do. She suggested that maybe I should just pet him because maybe he just wanted some attention. So I sat down in front of the open screen door and petted him. He seemed happy, and at a point when I was distracted, he jumped inside my apartment. "Oh no, come back" were my exact words to him. He walked in my apartment, looked around at my couch and coffee table, then he trotted through my living room and made his way toward my bathroom and bedroom. He looked toward the bathroom, but then turned into my bedroom and went straight for the bed. He crawled right under my bed. He was close to the edge of the bed, so I was able to drag him out. I picked him up and he was kind of big and fat, so I have a feeling that he's not a stray and not totally neglected.

I put him out on the patio, but I got the dry kitty treats to feed to him, and he really liked those. And, once again, when I was distracted, he jumped in my apartment and went right back to my bedroom. So I had to grab him and carry him back outside.

So, I'm not so sure what to do. It's likely that he belongs to someone in the apartment complex, and maybe he just gets lost on his way home. Or maybe he just wants to visit me. Apparently he likes to visit on Thursday nights. Like I said, he seems to be in good shape and must be taken care of. We'll see if he comes back.

He's super cute, too. I'm trying not to fall in love with him. I managed to take a picture of him when he was in my home. It's a fuzzy picture because he wouldn't sit still, but you can see how cute he is...

Crawling Out of the Quicksand

It has once again been nearly a month since I have last written here. Should I play the broken record again? Work has been especially overwhelming this month because I had about eight books going to press throughout the month. For those of you who are not in publishing and might not know, eight books going to press in one month is a lot. And to make matters worse, it seemed like every project was a mess or more complicated than it should have been. Because each project was mess or really complicated, every step of the process took twice as long as it should have, and unfortunately I had to put in a lot of overtime during the past few weeks. And, no, I don't get paid extra for overtime! Last week was my crunch week, my hell week, when the last of the projects had to be wrapped up and sent off. After several long nights and long weekends and a few tears, I was able to send the last of my books to press. I say "last of my books" but that only refers to the ones going to press. I still have seven other books that I need to work on. Sigh...

Oh well. At least I have a brief moment where I can "slow down" a little bit and catch my breath. Yes, I'm still somewhat busy, but at least I'm not frantic like I have been. I'm even hoping that I can take a few days off this month, just to give myself more time to relax.

Current mood: tired
Current music: iTunes on shuffle. Beth Waters "White Dogs in the Moonlight"
Current drink: Old Chub (beer)