I knew the cat was still on our property by the almost empty food bowl that I put out each night. For weeks I had sightings of him, usually at night.
“Your friend is out there meowing,” David told me one evening. The cat greeted me and let me pet him; he couldn’t turn around quick enough to get another pet. His bones stuck out from being so skinny. A noise startled him and he took off and hid.
A few days ago I caught him and put him in our basement. He instantly turned into an indoors cat. He has no desire to go outside and be scared silly all the time. He jumps and runs at every noise still but calms down quickly. When I’m sitting at the computer, he climbs up me, puts his paws around my neck, nuzzles into my chin and stays that way for 15 minutes or more. He’s been laying on my lap watching the screen as I type this. He enjoys every second that he can totally relax in knowing he’s safe.
It is so obvious watching Pale Face that he was so helpless in the wild. He was not able to “fend for himself”. He is completely dependant on humans for food and love. He didn’t have the skills to hunt, which he would have learned from his parents or maybe other cats. I’m so glad we got him inside before the fireworks started.
His hugs are gladly accepted. He has melted any objections we have to taking on a third rescued pet. If we couldn’t take him in, it’d be decent to put him down rather than watch him slowly starve to death or be scared out of his wits. He was too afraid to come up to us, too afraid to move for weeks. Consider that, when in doubt as to what to do with an unwanted animal.
