Two or three weeks after my son was born, my skittish indoor cat, then aged 7 years, snuck out the back door and refused to return inside. Ever. She has weathered winter storms in our sheds and allowed me to pet her about once a year. Sometimes twice.She has been outside for 3.5 years, friendly with our indoor/outdoor cats but refusing to allow us within 5 feet of her. The last few weeks we have had a feral cat hanging around sleeping in her favorite spot and competing for food, and what with the frigid near 0F wind chill outside, I guess she is fed up -- she has been acting like she wanted to come in, but was still nervous.
Until Today!!
She meowed and meowed on the porch, so I went to feed her and she tried to run inside. Then she ate instead, but kept meowing so I went and pet her. She started purring, I picked her up, and brought her inside. Amazing. I checked her over for fleas and didn't see a single sign on them. She actually looks cleaner than our indoor cats. Still, I put spot-on flea medication on her and am feeding all the cats some Diatomaceous Earth in their food...
The oddest thing about all this is that she is returning just a couple weeks before we expect my daughter to be born. Maybe she just wants to see the baby...
I love this cat. I've had her since she was rescued from a back alley in Los Angeles at 5 weeks, her mother and siblings all dead next to her. She's always been skittish, but as long as you DO NOT MOVE, she will roll all over you purring and purring. She is a doll. The only house she was ever successfully indoor and outdoor at the same time was my mother's, where she has all sorts of cat doors going in and out, and a nice warm barn. She may wind up there again, since my mother is always asking after her and I'm not sure that Cleo is really up to being in a house that now includes a sword weilding robot loving toddler. But I am so glad to have a chance to pet her again :)
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