I admit it . . . I did it. Yesterday afternoon, I looked out the bathroom window and our very old alley cat was sitting by the patio doors of the porch patiently awaiting the food bowl to be put out. Megan named her Tabatha when Megan was about two. Megan is now twelve. Tabatha was the first stray that we would put food out for.
This past fall to ward off the unwanted stray cats, the food bowl was not set out all day. We noticed that when Tabatha came she would patiently wait for us to notice her. From the time we would leave the back door of the house until we set the bowl out in front of her she would meow non-stop. We could even give her a pet or rub her back and she would just begin eating. I will add that I had tracked Tabatha as far as a half city block away from her hiding spot under an old building.
Since Tabatha, we have added five stray cats that have been taken in, had fixed and kept up with their shots. Tabatha was a cat that came and went when her tummy would growl.
Yesterday the temperatures never made it above freezing. I admit it . . . I did it. Yesterday, when I noticed Tabatha waiting next to the patio door, I opened the porch door and as I slid the food bowl out to her, I backed up, back into the porch with the food bowl and she followed me in. Dennis had often commented about this cat and her strong soul that never gave up on us as she would wait for food. So, what is one more in the porch? Dennis was sure when he went out she would be howling to get out, but she found a spot within a cardboard box where the rest of the cats have been playing in and she has thus far claimed squatter’s rights to it. I know she has always taken her time eating, perhaps there are some teeth missing. Come rain or shine, hot or cold she would be seen taking her time trudging across the huge expanse of the backyard. Well, for now, she can save some of her energy and just keep that cardboard box as a safety net under her feet which would have been very, very cold making it back to that empty building.
Time will tell, but I can tell you that Dennis and I have a lot of empathy for all of God’s creatures, great and small. Cold weather means warm hearts are about.