Oh, Henry!

At the beginning of this summer, a stray cat appeared in our neighborhood. He initially hung out at a neighbor's house, then he started showing up at our house. We would see him lurking in the woods, and when we called to him, he would run away.

Then, one day, we saw him next to our driveway when we were out with Teddy. I crouched down, called to him, and he came running right to me! I scooped him up and cuddled him and he began purring loudly. Bruce fetched one of our cat carriers and in he went.

 
Probably wasn't what he had in mind.

After a visit to the vet for immunizations and neutering, he stayed in our guest room for a couple of weeks. We wanted to make sure he knew this was his new home. Bruce really wanted him to be an indoor cat, but we still have three indoor cats and I didn't want to rock the boat. However, I decided to leave it up to Bruce.

Henry then made the decision for us. He tore a hole in the bedroom window screen. Oops.

So, out he went.

And he didn't run away! He liked hanging out with us on the front porch. He accompanied Bruce as he distributed deer food in the Backyard Bistro. And the other two outdoor cats, Sera and Shadow, didn't seem to mind him, either.

"What's one more cat around here?"

We heaved a sigh of relief. He was our new cat.

Then, he disappeared. He didn't show up one morning. And then the next morning. We called our neighbor to see if he was back at their house. Nope. Our stomachs started churning and our thoughts went to dark places. We had been hearing coyotes every night. What if...?

And then...

Henry came home! We've been through this before with our other outside cats, but it never gets easier.

So Henry is now our inside/outside cat. He likes to come inside sometimes during the day for a nap, or just to hang out on a lap and get some pets.

He even spends the night every once in awhile after some exploring.

"I'm just one of the toys"

In case you haven't noticed, he loves Teddy!


He is not shy about letting us know when he's ready to go back out. He runs to one of the doors and says "Mrrrrrrp!"

Oh, and I didn't mention what a great mouser he is. He seems to catch at least one mouse per day. Now, I don't necessarily like cute things killing other cute things, but I guess I'd rather him keep the rodent population down around here than be overrun with mousies. And he doesn't bring them into the house or deposit them on our porch. He disposes of them away from the house. Thank you, Henry.

So that's an introduction to our newest fur kid. We love this guy. He has quite the personality. And to quote Bruce: "I've always wanted a cat JUST like him!"