| A black cat? Yuck!
Inspite of being a total cat lover, I
personally never cared for or would ever
consider picking out a black cat. Somehow
though, this guy stole my heart. Two
years ago as I was pulling into my
garage, I caught a glimpse of this kitty
in the weeds and thought it was my other
cat Chancellor - who by the way, adopted
me and is also black; but THAT'S another
story. Anyway, since volunteering for a
no-kill cat shelter, I sure couldn't have
some stray wandering around out there not
neutered or spayed, and set out to trap
the poor kitty. Once trapped, neutered,
tested and given shots, I decided I would
keep him on my porch in a cage until he
could be taken into the cat shelter for
adoption. WRONG - Sydney wanted no parts
of being caged. During the day he would
sleep contentedly, but in the evenings he
would get so crazy and wild trying to get
out of the cage that he hurt himself.
Litterbox - food bowl - water bowl - What
are these things????? He had no clue.
Sydney constantly overturned his water
bowl and litter would be all over the
porch. After 4 days I just didn't have
the heart to keep him penned up and
unhappy - so I set him free. But mind you
- I didn't want to give up my little
orphan. For the next 4 months, twice a
day I would feed him; first putting his
dish about 15 feet away from the house
and calling him by his new name. Each day
I moved his bowl closer and closer to the
porch. Whew! Finally - now at least he
was on the porch and trusting me a bit so
that I could at least pet him - a bit.
Now - winter is coming. Oh, no - he'll
freeze out there. I can't bring him in -
he barely lets me pet him, let alone pick
him up. So there I am - making a
makeshift cat house out of a styrofoam
container and lining it with a heating
blanket that I turn on at night and off
in the morning. Each morning I would find
him standing on a barrel looking in our
window waiting to be fed. Through the
course of that first winter Sydney and I
bonded. Each day - twice a day - 10
degees or 50 degrees, for a minimum of 45
minutes I would bundle up and with a
blanket in hand, sit with Sydney on the
porch. Acquiring some small bites and a
few scratches, he eventually let me wrap
him up in the blanket to keep warm and
apparently he likes it, because we are
now going through our second winter
together and Sydney is still waiting for
me each morning and each evening to be
fed and wrapped in his blanket. Try as I
might though, he still won't let me bring
him inside. And to this day, he still
won't use a water bowl. His favorite
drinking hole is our bird bath which I
keep a heater in so the water won't
freeze during the winter. He has become a
total lovebug and nuzzles up to my nose,
with his paws around my neck as we sit on
the porch and watch the birds feeding. A
black cat!!! Well, I think I've changed
my mind.
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