Stray Cats and People

As you can tell by my blog I am an animal lover. My husband is not. I feed every stray that comes to the door. He boots them away.

After almost 3 years of marriage he is finally getting used to the idea that animals are a big part of my life and that God teaches me things through them.

I would like to share about a stray that comes here. Let me back up. Since coming here we have had stray cats come to our door. Most run off, but once in the while one will stay. Some time ago a large Tom cat showed up, with a tiny kitten. This kitten could not even eat on it's own and was quite scared. It took a week to get her to come close to me, but the Tom came right away. He was super friendly, and was by the steps one day when my husband walked out. I told my husband that "he was a friendly Tom". (the cat, not my husband). The cat meowed, so I said Tom again, and he responded the same. I said "come here Tom" and he did. My guess was someone dumped them off and this was Tom. I fed Tom and he would climb on me for his loving all the time. The kitten was not so. She had to be coaxed and bribed to come, jumped away at every move and was a real scardey cat. She was so tiny I worried about her. She finally would come and let me pet her and after a bit would climb up on my lap, and then into the house (husband was not happy, but she was hurt and he realized how much I was feeling at the time).

Somehow the Tom would come back injured all the time, and then one day did not show up and has not been back. However, some time later another stray took his place. This stray started stealing the food from the original cat (Rick's from before all the strays). I finally started feeding him so that our cat could eat. No matter what I have tried he is there for food, but will not let me close. He is jumpy, runs off and does not want to get close. He has been here since June, and finally comes just out of my arms reach. He will cry at the door if I am not there on time, will eat the food, but not let me get close.

I look at the difference in these three strays. Kind of like people huh? They show up and some are friendly right away. Easy to make friends with and want to be friends. Others you have to coax out of their shell and finally they realize you are not out to hurt them. Then their are others that have been hurt so much in the past they will not come close to anyone, but are there for what you have to give them.

Here is my "mooch". He will not let me close, but here he is begging for his food.
He will not eat until he watches me go in the door and then hears it close. This pic was taken through the screen so it is not as good as the other.
He is all black with a white tip on his tail. A pretty cat. All three strays are black, but that was their only similarity.

I can't help but think of people and how some that are so standoffish may be that way for a reason. I am not going to give up on this black cat. I will continue to feed him and try. He has taught me a lesson about people maybe I can learn more as I keep on trying to befriend him.