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We may have four cats
Oct. 13th, 2006 10:12 amFor years there has been a gorgeous but mean bicolor mackeral tabby tomcat who considers our yard as part of his territory. Lee-Roy kept him in line. After we lost Lee-Roy, that cat took over and beat Cactus up enough that she'd stay inside most of the time. Since Loki insisted on going outside, we noticed "gray cat" and he had become buddies. Well we thought it was that cat. It turns out he has a much younger twin. We're convinced it's his son who looks EXACTLY like him. The two get into fights so we've seen them together. The son was being fed by our neighbor who says he wants a girl cat and thought this youngster was a female (he must be blind). Now he calls the youngster a transvestite. lol The kitty lets our neighbor pet him on his back porch where he feeds him but won't let him pick him up.
We could tell from the shape of his head that he's male. He's got the round face of a mature tom. The proof of his maleness is quite obvious. Gray cat as we call him started sneaking in for food. He hangs out with our cats and watches wistfully when we play with them and pet them. I started telling our kitties to "be nice" and they've slowly begun to accept him. Eric and I both started talking sweetly to him and trying to get him to let us pet him. This week, we both succeeded!! Eric did it first. Later I went into the kitchen when he was there and sat on the floor playing wiggly bootlace with two of ours. He was fascinated and I got him to play. I petted Loki and Gray cat tipped his head like he wanted to lean into some scritching fingers, too. So I slowly reached the back of my hand toward his face and he went for it. When he seemed a bit nervous, I pulled back. Loki wanted to wrestle so I wrestled with him. Gray cat wanted more pets then flopped over the way Loki did. I wasn't sure he was ready for wrestling or that I trusted him not to rip me to shreds and insulted him by grabbing a toy he'd been playing with to tickle his paw. He got up and left. :(
He's used to being hit by someone. We have to carefully start petting from the side of his head and work our way around to his ears and the top of his head. Sometimes he'll smack at us. For me, he has always held his claws in. Last night Eric gave him a really good scritch session in the kitchen and when he got up to leave, Gray cat smacked his leg hard with claws. He's not sure if Gray cat wanted more love or what that was about. He told him he was bad to hit. When I got home from school, Gray cat was too skittish to let me pet him.
We're trying to figure out how to tell young Gray cat from his dad. We're looking for small differences in the white pattern. The cat who lets us pet him has one full sock on his left rear foot and it's down below the heel on his right. I'll have to see the other cat better to see if his markings are the same. They both have short "gloves."
I'm trying to get a picture of him to share with you. He's very shy. I'd say he's borderline feral. We're trying to gain his trust before we trap and neuter him. That might put him off of us forever if he doesn't love us first.
We could tell from the shape of his head that he's male. He's got the round face of a mature tom. The proof of his maleness is quite obvious. Gray cat as we call him started sneaking in for food. He hangs out with our cats and watches wistfully when we play with them and pet them. I started telling our kitties to "be nice" and they've slowly begun to accept him. Eric and I both started talking sweetly to him and trying to get him to let us pet him. This week, we both succeeded!! Eric did it first. Later I went into the kitchen when he was there and sat on the floor playing wiggly bootlace with two of ours. He was fascinated and I got him to play. I petted Loki and Gray cat tipped his head like he wanted to lean into some scritching fingers, too. So I slowly reached the back of my hand toward his face and he went for it. When he seemed a bit nervous, I pulled back. Loki wanted to wrestle so I wrestled with him. Gray cat wanted more pets then flopped over the way Loki did. I wasn't sure he was ready for wrestling or that I trusted him not to rip me to shreds and insulted him by grabbing a toy he'd been playing with to tickle his paw. He got up and left. :(
He's used to being hit by someone. We have to carefully start petting from the side of his head and work our way around to his ears and the top of his head. Sometimes he'll smack at us. For me, he has always held his claws in. Last night Eric gave him a really good scritch session in the kitchen and when he got up to leave, Gray cat smacked his leg hard with claws. He's not sure if Gray cat wanted more love or what that was about. He told him he was bad to hit. When I got home from school, Gray cat was too skittish to let me pet him.
We're trying to figure out how to tell young Gray cat from his dad. We're looking for small differences in the white pattern. The cat who lets us pet him has one full sock on his left rear foot and it's down below the heel on his right. I'll have to see the other cat better to see if his markings are the same. They both have short "gloves."
I'm trying to get a picture of him to share with you. He's very shy. I'd say he's borderline feral. We're trying to gain his trust before we trap and neuter him. That might put him off of us forever if he doesn't love us first.
