January 6, 2008

So last night after I turn off the lights and get ready to sleep I
hear a pitiful meowing. At first I thought it was one of my cats but
then I realized it had to be coming from outside the porch. How I
could hear this when I was in the bedroom on the other side of the
house and all windows are closed I don't know but I did. Of course my
first thought it Roy is home and I race to the door and fling it open
- and scare the poor cat into running. I should have known better -
especially after reading so many stories of the same thing
happening. But since I see the cat running I see it is not Roy but
Leo. I try to entice him to come back but I can't even see if he is
still in the yard or if he ran on. So he is 100% sure not a feral -
no feral would beg to come inside a house. I am thinking he is not
owned either as if he had a home why would he be at mine 11:30 at
night? I have a feeling he will be back and I know it is only a
matter of time before I can get him to a vet and then decide what to
do about him.

So I am sitting there looking at the door wondering what to do when I
hear another noise and look up and see a cat jump down from the
raining of the porch to the floor. Again I cannot see it although I
could have sworn it was black with a white patch on the chest -
could be my other stray, could be a different cat. I try to entice
that one too but he is hidden. I have no idea how he got on the porch
- I have a two story house and the porch is on the second story. At
first I thought he might have climbed a tree and then climbed the
branches but this morning I looked and the branches aren't that close
to the porch and there are no footsteps around that tree. Maybe I
actually saw him jumping off the porch? I am not sure since I didn't
see footprints on the porch last night and do see them today. But
then again 11:30 at night in the cold (I was in my nightgown) and
trying to keep the other cats inside isn't exactly the best time to
be picking up details.

If that second cat was Roy would he be scared to come inside? Would
him being out this long mean he might know this is home but not be
sure about approaching the door? Or is it more likely that it was my
other stray (a grey cat with white chest and belly)? I have no idea
why he would jump onto the porch though - the food is at the bottom
of the stairs and he jumped up on the opposite side. The second stray
(Grey) keeps a healthy distance between us if I come out when he is
there. He will watch me put out the food but will only come closer as
I move away. I don't know why he would jump onto the porch while
I am in the doorway crying out to Leo. And I still don't know how he
got up there...


This morning I went out and looked at the bottom of the porch. There is
definitely a cat mark - either a jump up and a jump down. The leg prints
are very clear. I think it looks more like a jump up. I took pictures and once
I figure out how to post them I will. It's very weird because I didn't think
cats could jump that high.

I did check my other cameras - one the food was gone but no pictures. I
didn't realize the card was full. The second had lots of food - and 4 pictures. A
grey cat went to sniff the food and decided that friskies were not for him. I
wonder how far into the woods I should go. I would almost say the cat
followed my prints since they were very distinct today and not so much yesterday.