March 11, 2021
It is early March 2021 and an unknown, small cat appears in our suburban backyard. The above picture is one of the first we were able to snap of her, through the backyard windows. We are immediately impressed with her direct stare. Nothing like the slightly disinterested look typical for most ats; no, this is a purposeful stare, with, it seems to us, a clear message: “Pay attention to me. Feed me.” It is to become a signature feature of this interesting feline.
Both my husband and I are cat lovers and many have allowed us to live with them over the years. We seem to attract small cats, rather than big ones, mixed bags rather than pure bloods and in that respect, the unknown visitor touches our hearts immediately. She is a small run-of-the-mill tabby, with clear green eyes. She does not seem to be afraid of us. A feeding routine develops quickly and naturally. Initially we call the cat ‘Kitty’, but later we officially baptise her ‘Mitsy’. It seems to fit her better.
In the early stages of her visits, she hides around the corner of the house when we step outside to bring fresh food. She only returns after we go back into the house, leaving out food. She has no interest in being approached at close range. We can watch, with the safety of the glass sliding door in between, but we can’t touch – and that is fine. We admire her independence and other than feeding her, we feel no urge to try and touch or lift her.
Incredible amounts of food
The amounts of food she puts away are incredible. She easily ‘inhales’ 4 small-size cans of food per day and won’t say ‘no’ to an additional bowl of kibble either. In the beginning, we look at her and think: she looks really healthy, does she belong to somebody who does not feed her enough?
Her eyes and nose are clean, she has a big furry winter coat, she does not look emaciated at all… and we make up stories about her. Where she comes from, who she belongs to (if anyone), where she sleeps… Soon, we realise our mistake: this cat does not look healthy, she looks pregnant! When that realisation hits, we invest in better food with high nutritional value.
Who is she?
We wonder if this is a feral cat. Or could she be a lost cat? A stray? Maybe her owners moved and she escaped? Or, a more morose scenario: maybe she does have an owner, but they have different standards about taking care of a cat than we have… I mean, who would let a cat roam outside at all hours of the day, rain or shine, while so obviously hungry and super-pregnant?
This is Mitsy in her winter coat. It camouflages her pregnant belly. Even the rescue people are unsure whether she is pregnant or not. But seen from the top, her belly seems to bulge a bit more than in a non-pregnant cat. A few weeks later she looks completely different: slim and sleek and if we had not gotten used to her face by now, you would almost say this is a completely different animal!
Nobody claims her
We decide to publish some pictures we manage to snap of her, on local ‘Lost and found’ websites and on Facebook. Nobody claims her. We get in touch with several vets as well. Nothing. So we start to think about our best course of action, if we want to ‘help’ this cat. Neither of us have ever been involved in trapping a cat, let alone doing the follow-up care for a pregnant and possibly (semi-)feral animal in our rental property.
Many different opinions
One thing comes through loud and clear: there are many different opinions and (sometimes militant) rescuers out there. Quite a bit of forceful pushiness comes our way in web comments. Some contributors to blogs and pages want us to feel personally guilty about the ever-growing feral cat population. They tell us we ‘must’ trap this cat ‘immediately’, so she can have her kittens in a safe place. They tell us that “if you do not act, you are signing a death warrant for her kittens”. When we do not respond, we see quite a few offensive follow-up postings that make us into ‘irresponsible’ people. Some offer us the use of their traps, but tell us we will never see the cat again after it is trapped, “because only experienced people with knowledge in this field can do this”…
The enigma of Mitsy
We keep feeding Mitsy a few times per day. As she is getting more comfortable with us, we also place some birthing shelters in our backyard. Not that any of them is ever deemed acceptable… Mitsy must have a good hiding place, that much is clear. When she comes over after a downpour of rain or snow, her coat is barely wet. So, not only must her shelter be dry, it also cannot be too far from our house, because even when it is still raining, her coat remains unruffled for the most part.
We do many, many walks in the neighbourhood and develop crooked necks from checking out alleyways and gardens… 🙂 But there is no trace of her – not even in fresh snow. The few times we try to follow her, whether on foot, on the bike or by car, we loose sight of her when she enters fenced-in private yards. Also, as soon as she becomes aware of us, she tends to cross the street and we have nightmares of her getting run over because we spook her. So we let go of the idea that we can ever find out where her hiding places are. Mitsy is quite the enigma. And maybe that is part of her charm…
Is it possible to introduce a new cat to our other vulnerable rescue?
One of the reasons we are not more resolute in taking action right away, is that we are the owners of a small rescue cat named Suzi. She grew up in a hoarder’s house: someone who kept huge numbers of cats in unsavoury living conditions. She has lots of health and emotional issues because of this background and simply is too vulnerable to introduce her to an outside stray cat. If only for medical reasons: Mitsy looks healthy, but chances are she is carrying some nasties, that might jump over to Suzi. So simply and literally opening our doors is not an option right now. Which is not to say that Suzi is unaware of the new guest in our yard. She sits at her usual perch at the backdoor and follows every movement Mitsy makes. There is a glass sliding door between the two of them, so both cats are safe. Neither of them makes overt aggressive moves. They just know of each other’s existence and respect each other’s boundaries. Or so it seems.
Suzi and Mitsy a mere foot apart, just the window separating them. In this picture you can actually see Mitsy’s pregnant belly. When pregnant cats walk around, they sort of hold their belly up high. It is natural behaviour, so that predators do not notice the pregnancy. However, when sitting down in a relaxed state while eating, they also relax their belly muscles and all of a sudden a big belly is much more visible.
Thinking of Dixie (rip)…
Suzi has already proven, in the past, that she is very friendly to other cats. My 20-year companion Dixie, that walks the next world now, was never interested in her, but Suzi would have loved to interact with her. She sat quite close to Dixie’s bed and even sniffed her. But Dixie was just too old to appreciate a playmate. We added Suzi to our household in spring 2016, and Dixie passed in the fall of 2018. So Suzi has been an only cat for a while now.
Suzi and Dixie in close vicinity of each other. Dixie simply sleeping and not caring whether Suzi was there or not, as long as she left her alone…
Another element at play is that we are tenants. We do not own this house. A house with a fully carpeted upstairs, and no extra room that we can use to tend to this mom-to-be. If she is truly feral, she can potentially thrash the place, drop her feces and urine everywhere and it could all end in emotional and materialistic disaster.
But we can still assist her with food, without the need to own or control her. We can invest in high-quality food and give her the best possible chance of delivering a healthy bunch of kittens, without direct interference. We can observe her and enjoy the experience. There is no place for arrogance and entitlement on our part, there can only be humility and admiration for this creature of nature. We are witnesses, and available to help, but it has to be on her terms.
And so the story begins.