"Stray Cat Strut"

I had a few pets as a kid.

I had a white rabbit that mysteriously disappeared. My dad had a beagle looking pup, named Patches and I don't know what happened to her either. I had three turtles, Henry, Herman, and Todd that lived in a washtub under our deck. My dad took me to turn them loose in the 'tree tunnel' out in Eastlake. A few fish. Lastly, the Pomeranian, Frisky - stupid dog, Edna gave him away one summer while I was gone.

In Edna's house, bringing a stray home was absoluely un-heard-of. Edna wasn't a fan of pets. Especially cats. She HATES cats.

Jeremy's family, on the other hand, is the direct opposite. They always had pets. Cats. They always took in strays - typically the rattiest, ugliest of the bunch. Though I think I'm more the sap than he.

We have 2 cats. Both males. Brady (named after Tom Brady - former QB for Michigan, now for the Pats) who came to us from the animal shelter right before Jeremy and I got married. Brady weighs 19 lbs. and he's gray with white paws, a white belly and mostly a white face (that is as soft as rabbit fur) - he has a few little spots of gray that look like someone had paint on their finger and smudged his nose and chin. Our other cat, Woody (named after Woody Williams - a red haired, former pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, retired from the Houston Astros) is an inbred farm cat from my sister, Cindy. Woody is 17 lbs. with no hair on his ears, nose, tail or belly. He's an orange tiger with a face that looks like a lion. They're great boys.

Our cats are indoor cats - though Woody does occasionally escape in nice weather. I believe that in the city, cats should be indoor cats. On the farm, in the country, that's another story. We have sooo many outdoor cats in our neighborhood right now. At last count, I had 7. These cats are constantly in our yard, turning our motion light on, sniffing around. They poop in the sand or in my flowerbeds. It's driving me nuts! Worse, I hate to see the result when they don't make it crossing the street.

These cats have a club too. They say to each other "Go, go to that big brick house, that one right there. Look cute and pitiful. Do it! They'll feed you there. The woman, her mom wouldn't let her take in a stray - she has guilt. The big guy, he's always been a sucker for an animal. I've even seen him let spiders outside! I'm telling you kid, it's the place to go!"

This morning, I was leaving the house and looked into the back porch and scared the poop out of myself when I saw this little gray girl kitten, sleeping on the bench in my porch. She's just a little thing, in the playful, awkward stage. I've seen her a few times, she's from the new people - 2 houses down. She was all wet, she'd been out in the rain last night. Poor thing. Jeremy fed her. Jacob and I pet her and she purred. I called home to check on her - she'd eaten but was sleeping again.

I know feeding them, keeps them coming back and for that reason, we don't keep food out and we don't feed the wandering 7. This girl is just too sweet and we could never keep her. She's too old to convert to a house cat now. So we'll get her a dish of food when she shows up in our porch. And hope she always crosses the street safely. Maybe she'll get that mouse I saw out there. I know my declawed, sissified, fat city cats won't do anything about it!