Over the years, both Kay and I have had pets, for me it was always a dog while Kay had dogs and cats. When we married, we each had a dog that our late spouses favored, we couldn't give them up so we took care of them until the time came for us to put them down. At this point we decided pets were not fitting into our lifestyle as we are often gone for hours and days at a time so we decided to not to have any more pets.
Things went along fine for a couple of years until Kay discovered a young cat under the steps of our deck. He was a Domestic Short Hair Tabby kitten, with a bobbed tail maybe three inches long, he appeared to be feral because he was skittish and not accustomed to people. Taking pity on the poor thing, she put out food and over a couple of weeks the cat would come out and eat in her presence, not long after that it would allow her to pet it and not long after that it would curl up in her lap and purr as she sat on the deck. We discovered that the cat actually slept in one of the four culverts around our house but after a while Kay had gained its confidence and the cat came into our house. His visits were a short duration at first but that didn't last long.
At this point I need to say that I'm really not a cat person, never have been but Kay at times has been a cat person and watching her and this feral cat get to know each other I realized things were about to change. The relationship between Kay and the cat quickly grew, the cat needed a name and I suggested Bob, he was, after all, a male and he had a bobbed tail so Bob it is. After getting checked out by a vet and getting downgraded from a "he" to an "it" Bob became the newest member to the family.
We really didn't want Bob in the house all that much and we didn't want him sleeping in a culvert so I built him a house which Kay filled with straw and an old towel. Bob now has a place to sleep out of the weather on our screened porch which means we leave the storm door cracked open so he can come and go at his leisure, sort of defeats the purpose of a screened porch with a storm door.
It has been sometime since Bob showed up, he has the run of the place and two human servants to feed him and let him in or out the door as he often as he wants - quite often. He still is a feral cat and roams around the yard during the day but at night he chooses to sleep in the comfort of the indoors where he has several spots he has chosen for sleeping depending on his mood. He frequently cuddles up to Kay where he turns on his motor and purrs, allowing her to scratch his ears until he tires of that then he turns around and nips at her hand which now is spotted with small scabs. When we go away for a few hours or days he reverts back to being feral, Kay leaves him food and water and when we return home he's waiting for us, he knows when he has a good thing. He is Kay's companion as she works or walks around the yard, he has come in my workshop but quickly disappears when I turn on a machine.
Often at night he will crawl in bed with us, sometimes he will cuddle next to Kay or he may get between us, his purring will be loud but comforting. Sometimes he will get in a playful mood and attack our toes, whenever we have a twitch he will jump at the movement and bite through the quilt which gets him a kneejerk reaction that may send him flying through the air. Kay has bought several toys that he will chase around the house and sometimes, after a little catnip, he will go bonkers and run like crazy all over the house.
I must reiterate that I'm not a cat person, never have been and make no bones about it. I think Bob may have sensed that and he reasonably goes to Kay first but in the middle of the night; when I can't sleep he will come sit next to me as I scroll Facebook and allow me to scratch his ears as he purrs away, maybe we are growing on each other but still I sense that my position as master of the house is being usurped. Knowing that cats have a long lifespan and my ambition to be around for many more years, it is going to be a race to see who will outlive the other.
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