Okay, so, you remember a few weeks ago how I mentioned that in about the same time span, not only did Rufus show up, but a black and white cat who looked a LOT like Joe Bob from a distance showed up too?
We dubbed the black and white Joe-alike “Newman” (or I should say I named him that), and after that day I didn’t see him again. We decided he belonged to someone down the road, and that he’d just stopped by for a visit.
AND THEN.
He showed up one day last week, and he looked ratty, and he was very hungry. I decided that if he hung around I’d snatch him up and have him checked out at the vet, at the very least have him neutered, and I’d send Fred up the road to see if we could figure out where he belonged. But after he ate, one of our cats chased him off the property, and I wondered if I’d see him again.
Sunday afternoon, Fred glanced out the window and told me that Newman was on the deck of the people next door. They don’t have any cats, so we knew Newman was just passing through. Fred went out and called to him, and he ran right over. We gave him canned cat food, and he wolfed that down, then started on the bowl of dry food sitting there.
Fred did the rounds of the neighbors, and as it turned out, Newman belonged to none of them, though several of them had seen him wandering around the neighborhood.
Yet another dumped cat, it appears.
We dithered about what to do, but really, we had no choice but to catch him (which was a very difficult procedure of going out onto the front porch with a carrier, picking up Newman, putting him inside the carrier, and closing the carrier.). I emailed the shelter manager and asked if there was any possibility of room at the shelter for him. Fred thought that if there was no room at the shelter, we could at least have him tested and neutered and perhaps put him in the guest bedroom with Rufus.
(“Or we could just let Rufus run free in Gen Pop,” Fred pointed out.)
As it turned out, there was room at the shelter. We kept him overnight (away from the other cats), and yesterday morning I dropped him off at the vet clinic to be tested (negative, YAY!), neutered, id chipped, and get his shots.
He’s a super friendly boy – hands-down the friendliest cat who has ever shown up here. All the other cats who’ve shown up have been scared, at least at first, but Newman was friendly from the get-go. He’s a sweet boy, I hope he finds his forever home soon!
“There are no other cats. There is only Maggie.”
Maggie would like you to appreciate her girlish figure.
She LOVES that scratcher, and in fact has pretty much torn the other side to shreds. We flipped it over for her, and she’s doing her best to take care of that side, too. She’s a giver, that Maggie.
Appetite: undiminished. Girth: ever larger. Perhaps a bit less talkative, but I can’t quite decide.
Bayyyyyyyyybeeeeeeeeees, Maggie. Give!
Rufus on the cat tree in the guest bedroom.
Rufus lookin’ sassy.
I do believe that the only time Rufus hid under the couch yesterday is when I got the vacuum cleaner out and turned it on. He fled in terror to his safe spot under the couch. (In my defense, I didn’t actually realize he was on top of the cat tree in the front room at the time!)
The rest of the day, he either snoozed on top of the cat tree in the front room or wandered around the house. It’s nice to see him out more and more each day. He still gets nervous if we walk directly toward him, but at least he doesn’t run off. He just keeps an eye on us ’til we’re past him, and then he resumes whatever he was doing.
Probably another night or two, we’ll leave him out overnight (instead of locking him in the guest bedroom) and see how that goes.
Newt would like you to know that he’s fully aware he’s gorgeous. But thank you for noticing.
Previously
2010: “That’s right, I done it, copper. I done it, and I’d do it again. I was loopy on catnip, no judge in the world is going to convict me. They’ll send me to rehab, I’ll come out clean and UNREPENTANT. So get out those cuffs and slap ‘em on, I AIN’T SCARED.”
2009: (I like to think that maybe someone who lives down the road was sitting in front of their TV and was struck with the sudden urge to grab the camera and go upstairs, and that they said “But I don’t HAVE an upstairs!”)
2008: No entry.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
Hello….NEWMAN.
Let’s hope it’ll be “Good-bye… NEWMAN” soon! (But not in a bad way…)
I swear Rufus is getting sleeker and brighter-eyed every day. I’m glad to hear that he is getting a lot less nervous!
And what can we say about Maggie? Hubba hubba!
I love that photo of Newt, relaxed, content and beautiful. Yay!
Finally, I hate to mention another foster blog, but The Kitten Crew has a live cam of a mother with 5 kittens. I’ve been using it to treat Impatience-with-Maggie Syndrome. Plus, the little cow kitty has a panda face! And one of the white-with-tabbies opened his/her eyes this morning! Squeeeeeeeeeeee!
thekittencrew dot com. Click on “Live Kitten Cam”
Ohhhhh Doodle Bean! I thought I was going to get some cleaning done today, but I think I’ll be sitting in front of my computer watching the babies. SO CUTE!
Lucky me that I am recovering from knee surgery so I have that excuse. It looks like two of the babehs have their eyes open now!
Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!
Oh dear. Poor Newman – he’s been a stray all this time – poor sweetie!!! I’m just so he’s found your and Fred. He’s safe now!!! He’s beautiful.
Now Maggie, Maggie, Maggie!!!!!! LOL!!!!!
Rufus is a dreamboat – he has such a sexy face!!
Hello there gorgeous Newt! take care
x
Newt, you are a handsome one alright. And quite secure in that knowledge too, by the looks of it!
So, is Newman staying with you now? The other cats are gonna be all “Newman!” everytime they find him in one of their napping spots or eating out of the bowl when they’re looking for a snack, hee hee.
No pressure there Mags, no pressure…
I guess I didn’t make that very clear, did I? There’s room for him at the shelter, so he’ll be picked up at the vet and will go to the shelter today. Which was kind of a relief, because I didn’t relish needing to close off that room and making our cats mad. 🙂
Shoulda said that their is a short ad at the start of the live kitten cam and that Google ads pop up at the bottom of the screen (like with YouTube videos). And that it’s highly addictive!!
Highly addictive is an understatement! 🙂 And the ad is worth it for alllll that cute!
Hmm… maybe you should have done a “how round can Maggie possibly get” pool! Have you ever thought to measure her belleh and see how much she is growing day to day? I about choked on my Diet Pepsi at the “girlish figure” comment, rotflol!
I wish I’d measured her midsection when we first got her, so I’d know just how much she’s grown! 🙂
At last, Maggie is starting to get the real look of “ready any time now,” which means she could pop any time from now through the next week. Look for milk coming out of her nipples at your touch and a change in her meow patterns, also pacing and nesting behavior.
I wish I could adopt Tom but I want to point out to everybody that I have a big ol orange boy cat just like Tom. He was unadopted from the shelter for 8 months because he was too talkative and too friendly. Scrilla is the best cat we’ve ever had. Yes, they love attention but I swear they think they are dogs instead of cats. They are loving and loyal and love to talk to you. They are the best companions. I have two other cats that don’t want anything to do with you. Surely someone has room in their lives for a lover boy like Tom! I promise you won’t regret it. Everybody that meets our Scrilla boy wants to take him home with them – but where were they when he sat in a cage for 8 months because nobody wanted him then????
I hope someone gives poor Tom a home. He certainly doesn’t deserve to be homeless for being a nice guy!!!
People are fickle sometimes. I found a dog on the side of the road. She was 1 or 2 yrs old. Abused. Chow or chow-mix. Sweeeetest thing ever! She had heartworms and tick paralysis when I found her and she was super skinny. Who ever owned her had cut her hair really really short with sissors. Her fur was sunburned and in poor condition. We took her to the vet and had her treated for her ailments. I posted and asked around if anyone wanted to adopt her and stated that you need to have vision and see in your mind’s eye what she will become. NO responses. My sister-in-law, at the the time, was keeping her at her house. Her fur grew out quickly and she put on weight. She was a completely gorgeous dog! I sent around an email titles “If you were curious….” and showed her before pics and after pics. I wanted to educate people and a bit of it was a “fungule to you”…I admit! 🙂 Soooo many people wanted to take her home then. I told them “Nope!”…as my sister-in-law fell so in love with her that she was keeping her. She ended up being their very best dog…and much much sweeter than any of her golden retrievers.
I wish for everyone out there….”vision”.
By the way…chatty and social cats are the best companions. You won’t ever be lonely…and they are great company!
OMG, how will I get any work done this afternoon??? OMG, they’re flopping all over and hazzing complaints!!
Luanne,
Earlier, the cow kitten got the hiccups. It was hilarious!
WOW maggie is gettin big – hopefully soon!!
Ooooh, Newman returns! Poor stray kitty… but yay! for getting scooped up, loved on, and taken care of properly. *pets him* I hope he finds a forever home in a hurry. … Darn it, every time I hear the name ‘Newman’, I remember the little black kitten from Pitter Pats of Baby Cats with the same name. He ended up getting the nickname Newmy, so now I’ll forever be thinking of this guy the same way! Whoops, hi Newmy. 🙂
Go Rufus! *cuddles* Also, hi Mary Margaret McMew-McBride-McWhoever. XD
Oh, Newman, you are such a handsome tuxie boy — my favorite kind of kitty. I wish I lived closer!
And Maggie — let those kittens go!