Monday, June 22, 2009

Front Porch Kitty


Well, I guess we have a new pet in the family. Pretty homely, isn't he? This little guy has been hanging around for the last couple of weeks, and Jace has just been so worried about him ("Mom, what if no one is feeding him? Can't WE feed him? Can't we keep him? Look at him..."). Which elicited all kinds of "mom" responses from me ("Honey, we already have two pets, we can't have another one... someone else is feeding him, since he's not on our porch EVERY day... I'm sure he will be fine.").

But the cat was persistent, even without us feeding him, and took up residence on our front porch, where he could be found piteously meowing on a regular basis. On Sunday morning as Dave, Paige and I headed to breakfast to celebrate Father's Day, Dave was the one who broke down (softie!) and brought back some cat food and milk.

I called Jace at his dad's later that night, to tell him that we were now as much of "owners" of the cat as we will ever be-- he is, and will remain, a front porch kitty. There are two dogs who are inside half the time, and the vacuuming of dog hair is quite enough for me, thank you.

So, the dogs will continue to have the run of the back yard during the day, and the house during the evening, and the kitty will now occupy the front porch. Rocky is NOT happy about this. The dog is the biggest wimp ever, constantly herded around by an ankle-biting Corgi who is a third his size, but somehow he now thinks that he must be the master of the house and defend his turf from this newest addition. He can regularly be found at the window by the front door, peering out and barking like he never has in the 2+ years we've had him.


Jace has decided to name the cat "Gus" (it was that or"Joe", who is one of his friends at his summer program! I'm glad he picked Gus). Gus is happy to have his food, milk and water on the front porch, and has been there to greet us (and Rocky) as we returned home each day this week. I've never been a cat person, but he is growing on me!

4 comments:

Rob said...

We had a neighborhood cat in Kirksville who loved to hang out on our front porch. Michele is severely allergic to cats and affectionately called him Kick the Cat -or- Punch the Cat -or- Smack the Cat. Kick the Cat stuck and we eventually shortened it to just Kick.

He was a strange cat, sometimes hanging out on our front porch for days while other times we wouldn't see him for weeks.

One day we found out he belonged to a girl across the street and his real name was Fish - because he liked to stalk the fish in her fishbowl!

Tara said...

Gotta say i'm happy Jace went with "Gus" also. Joe will always be Joey Boxer to me. :)

Lucas said...

He looks like he could use a good meal, skinny little guy! Glad you guys are taking care of him, front porch style.

Tammy Kirks said...

Awww, what a cutie! Of course, I love animals - cats particularly - and am always glad when one finds a good home. Don't give him too much milk because it's not good for him!