An update on Mr. Cat, my porch cat.

[Ocelot II]

He's still with me after a year and a half, still owns my front porch and now my deck; he meows at me when he sees me and sometimes comes looking for me. When he finds me I feed him, of course, but sometimes it seems like he just wants to hang out. So we hang out. He gives me slow blinks. Petting more than very quickly still isn't on, but I love it that he likes hanging out with me. He has become a bit picky and demanding about food - he prefers canned Friskies to anything else. He likes tuna, of course; but the other day I put some in his bowl and he started to eat it, but he was distracted when a chipmunk scurried by. He likes hunting even more than he likes tuna. He did not catch the chipmunk. He doesn't seem to work very hard, though I don't know what he does when he's not on the porch - book club or union meetings, maybe.

Isn't he beautiful?

[Deuxcents]

1. Aww..what a beauty 🐾 almost looks like my Ruby

[MLAA]

2. Indeed he is, I will refer to him as Mr. Handsome. 😊

[question everything]

3. He is. And I am glad that the chipmunk escaped

[elleng]

4. ;-)

[SheltieLover]

5. What a handsome fellow!

Thx for sharing him with us.

[OAITW r.2.0]

6. I like that cat.

We'd get along pretty well. No real attachment, but we would take care of each other.

And, cats hardly ever catch chipmunks....birds, a whole different story.

[CousinIT]

7. He is beautiful! Slow blinks means he loves you.

Kitty pals are the best! He thinks you're the best too!

[Polly Hennessey]

8. "Please, sir, may I have more."

Mr. Cat should be renamed, Mr. Handsome.

[Bristlecone]

9. My kinda cat right there.

[Permanut]

10. Got one just like him..

adopted us a couple years ago when we moved here. We suspect the prior family left him when they moved. He's a 15 pounder, looks just like your Mr. Cat.

Comes by a couple times a day, for breakfast and dinner, but also hangs out with us a while. Also no clue where he goes the rest of the day. We call him Tiger because of the magnificent stripes.

[Skittles]

11. he is exquisite

huge amount of dignity right there

[Warpy]

12. A slow blink is the cat equivalent of a blown kiss

so slow blink back at him, it will build more trust. when he swipes his tail across your legs, you'll be able to stroke his flanks.

Fun fact, cats only meow at humans. It's not part of their vocabulary to each other. He's had humans at some point in the past, bet on it. He's a pretty tabby and it seems like he's just about ready to trust again.

[Ocelot II]

14. Yes, I always blink back at him.

He'll also touch his nose to my finger but we aren't at the tail-swiping stage yet. I'm not sure he was ever a pet, since after 18 months on my porch he's still shy, and he's clearly pretty young. The fact that he meows at me is a good sign of progress; he didn't do that at first.

[Random Boomer]

15. Ferals will come around, even if slowly

I fed a trio of feral kittens that were hanging around in the alley behind my house. All of them hissed at me when I got to close, even though I was bringing them food twice a day, but over time one of them began to warm up to me. For months she would just hang around, edging closer and closer. She was spooked when I first tried to touch her, but gradually got used to me touching her back now and then. She didn't particularly like it, but she would put up with it.

Then one day it was like a switch flipped and she LOVED being petted. She would run up whenever I came outside, rub against me and butt her head against my hand. I had hopes for getting her even tamer, but she stopped coming around -- even for food -- and moved over to the next block instead. I think my own cats drove her away as she neared adulthood. They had tolerated her as a kitten, but another adult cat in THEIR yard was just not acceptable.

Even longer ago, we did take in two street cats "just for the winter" (HA!). One of them had obviously been someone's house cat at some time and settled in immediately; her companion, however, was a battered one-eyed feral who had no idea what was going on. She gradually got used to the food and comforts we offered, but she almost jumped out of her skin the first time I tried to pet her. I just kept at it and within a year she was a dedicated lap cat. We were able to spoil her for a few years more, before she died of cancer.

[SlimJimmy]

16. We have three semi-ferals that hang with us.

The grey tabby is almost a twin to yours. I hold out my hand in a fist and he comes up and head butts it. I always tell my wife, it's a guy thing since he doesn't do that for her. I don't know about your guy, but all of ours (two males and a female) have been trapped "fixed" given all their shots and released back. They were a little "pissed" off at first, but all three have gotten over it.

[Aussie105]

13. For those who wonder where 'their' cat goes when out of sight . . .

To one of his other homes, of course!

There will be favourite spots to sleep during the day, specific homes to visit at specific times, different foods to sample - life is good for some wandering cats!

If he looks at you and says 'I am your cat, truly' don't believe a word of it!
(Cats don't have owners, they have slaves.)

[SlimJimmy]

17. My wife says ...

"Cats don't have owners, they have staff."