The Stray Cat Adventures

We have had one stray after another hanging around our back door since we moved here. Some of them have been sweet and fun while others have been feral and bad off. The way people just abandon their animals really bothers me. Today I had to take another sick cat to the shelter. Our city has a wonderful no-kill program, the same one we got our cats from.

The sweet little fellow that has been on my patio every morning.

In the picture you cant see how bloody he is, or tell that he has a respiratory infection and is having problems breathing, but you can tell how sweet he is. I hope he gets a good home.
So here is today's story. 10am sharp, as always he is curled up on my back door mat. I put on two heavy sweatshirts and my leather gloves, just in case he goes crazy. I never tried picking him up before. I go out and pet him and the sweet thing is all too happy to have me pick him up and take him inside. Little did he know he was headed to the bathroom where I closed the door and put him in a bin. I don't want to put him in the same carrier I use for my cats because he is sick and who knows what all he has, so I decided to try an empty storage bin. He pushed the lid right off so I taped it down and loaded him in the back seat of the car. The shelter is only about 1.5 miles away, and it is a good thing. Half way there (fortunately it happened while we were at a red light) he managed to get out of the bin and ran across the dashboard and hunkered down between the windshield and the steering wheel. I couldn't see a thing so I tried to move him. He latched on to the steering wheel and would NOT let go. I can't imagine what all the people in the cars around me were thinking. It took me a full 15 seconds (felt like a long time!) to get him off. He ran around and pushed his way between my drivers seat and the door. Fearing he was headed for the dash again I stopped him with my arm and he was quite happy to be snug between my side and the door. He stayed safely there 'till we got to the shelter. But then I had a new problem. How was I going to get him inside??? I couldn't even get out of the car to go get help. I was still nervous about handling a very stressed stray armed with a full set of claws. I felt I had been lucky to not get scratched or bit. I sweet-talked him into moving to my lap where I was able to get one of my sweatshirts off and wrap it around him. He seamed pretty happy just being securely bundled up, so I made a dash for it. The place was empty except for the lady behind the counter. I told her I had a stray, and all she asked was what it was. When I said, "cat!" and that I didn't know how long he was going to stay calm, she made a run for a crate. He went in fine, and all I had to do was give her my name, the address where I found him, and sign something saying he wasn't mine, all was done.

On my drive home I as wondering, why is it that these cats always end up at my door? At first I wondered if they keep coming to me because they have spread the word and all know I will take pity on them. Then I realized that perhaps it is not that complex. Along with having two cats constantly sitting in the windows, I think I have the cat version of a billboard for strays.

Catnip and bird feeder.