Pre-winter cat rescue [View all]
So, I consulted with joeybee and I ended up rescuing a young male cat. I noticed him sleeping in my mulch bed about two weeks ago and started feeding/watering him. He wouldn't let me near him (and still won't) but this evening he sat in front of my storm door like he wanted in--I opened the door and he ran away. I left the door open and stood back from it to see what he would do.
Curiousity doesn't just get the cat in trouble, it gets people in trouble too.
Anyway, to my amazement, he cautiously walked into my house then promptly freaked out when I closed the door--as did my two senior cats. I managed to wrangle him into an empty bedroom upstairs (though he tried to take a hand off when I did so--luckily I was faster than him--but he came at me with both paws. It was all very National Geographic).
Here's a picture of him right before he made the mistake of getting brave and walking into my house.
My next move is to re-domesticate him. I'm pretty certain he was someone's house pet before... I don't see a feral deciding to walk into someone's house. Also, he meows, which according to joeybee is a sign that he was a house cat at some point but the way he acted once he was "trapped" in the house makes me think I've a tough row to hoe.