4 of 67

Write now Article Tools

One evening while watching television, I was startled by a movement just outside the window. Since my husband, John and I live in a densely wooded area, we are rather used to animals appearing unexpectedly. Upon closer inspection, this intruder was a calico cat, likely a female as are most calicos. And she was just peering at me. She perched between the window sill and the brick ledge beneath it, just watching.

This wasn't the first stray cat to make its way to our seemingly inviting front porch, but this one seemed very friendly. This was more than just an animal that wanted food. This one wanted to make friends.

When we went into another room, she went to that window too, as if keeping her eye on us. Whenever my husband opened the door to let out our dog, Sam, the cat correctly anticipated which of three doors he would use. He tried to confuse her, but couldn't. She knew and apparently wanted to come into the house.

John is a dog person. I have always preferred cats. I was secretly excited that we might have another cat in the family. The matriarch of our family is a long-haired grey, Persian-Siamese-mix named Emily. She lets us live with her.

This new cat made fast friends with Sam, cozying up to him whenever he went outside. She was smart, and knew that if she won him over, we would probably fall in line. Still we were cautious. She was a stray after all. We knew it wasn't a good practice to feed strays, but this had to be an exception. We figured this cat once belonged to someone, but we checked ads and no calicos were missing. She may have been dumped here. So we brought food and water to her every morning. This routine went on for nearly a week.

Each night when we went to bed, she continued to hang around. At first I dreaded the morning, fearing that I wouldn't see her. Just when I thought that one day, she would tire of us and move on; there she was peeking in the window, her tail standing straight up like a banner waving. It has an unmistakable little bend at the end and is white at the very tip. Soon, the dread turned into pleasant anticipation.

One Saturday night we went out. We decided that if the cat was still there when we got home, we would let her in the house and claim her as ours. It was time to make this decision since the night time temperatures were falling and fall was turning into winter. Before we got home, we decided to name her Timi, (the female version of Timmy), after another cat we once had. When we pulled into the driveway

• 1
• 2
• 3
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Testimonies: Pets as part of the family?
We want to hear your view. Write now!