The Stray

By BlackJack

He was a skinny tomcat, abandoned by his family when they moved. He had been on the prowl for a number of years, but as he had grown older, it became harder to live as he once had in his youth.

That summer, there had been a drought, and water was hard to find, and birds were not as easily found either. The heat had driven away many small bugs and critters, and food was getting scarce. The heat was taking its toll on him too, he was so thin and eating from the trash cans had left his fur coarse. He was searching for a nice yard to stay, one where the humans would water the grass so he could get a drink, and maybe have more prey with the watering. That is when he saw the two cats sitting in the window.

As he padded through a yard, he spied them watching him. They looked very well cared for, and they also looked friendly! He walked around and found a nice covered patio that would be great for sleeping, and as he continued his journey, he found a carport that would be great during the winter. Maybe this was the place to stay!

As he settled into living in the yard, he found more birds to hunt, and the two cats in the window would watch him hunt and cheer when he was successful.

He began to feel better about life in general and claimed the yard as his primary territory, keeping out the other toms in the neighborhood and sleeping there during the heat of the day. He and the two kitties in the window became friends and when the two kitties were let out in the back yard, they would all get together and talk about hunting techniques and their favorite foods! It was nice having friends, and the skinny tomcat began to look at his options for becoming an indoor cat like his friends. But, of course, that is another story!

Living in the yard and finding such good friends was the turnaround in that skinny tomcat's life, and being a gentleman cat had surely served him in good stead. Those lessons by his furmom so many years ago had helped him find a safe and happy place to stay, and some very special kitty friends to cheer him on and make life fun again! He didn't feel homeless anymore, and that was the greatest feeling in the world!