A pretty tuxedo kitty has been visiting Cleo in the last couple of
months.  At first it was only once a week or so, but now it is more
often.  He will jump onto the window ledge and sit looking in at her
and meowing plaintively.  She responds by hissing, growling, and
attempts clawing him in spite of the window between them.  He ignores
it all as if he doesn't understand it.

When we first saw him he had collar and a tag--but the tag had no
information on it.  The friendly fellow let us rub him so we could
tell he was fairly well fed.  We later found out that the same cat had
been stealing food at my neighbor's house, and scaring his kitties
away from their food dishes in the process.  Our neighbor has changed
the way he feeds his cats because of it.   Last month Boyfriend
started coming over every time the weather was bad, taking refuge on
our carport or under the deck.  His collar has been gone for at least
2 weeks.  Now he has suddenly lost weight, enough that DH and I
decided to feed him regularly.

We have come to the conclusion that he had a human, but the human no
longer takes care of him.  He is a very loving cat who likes rubs,
shows his belly to us, and talks a lot.  He is an intact male, so can
breed freely outdoors.  We can't afford to have him neutered, and
can't keep him indoors because he makes Cleo nuts.  We can't keep him
outdoors as he will continue to unknowingly terrorize the neighbor's
cats and possible breed.  

Our local humane society has had such progress with the spay and
neuter program that they help surrounding county humane societies find
homes for their cats.  A volunteer told us two weeks ago that through
the PetSmart adoption plan they have been able to adopt out every
adoptable cat they have had for the last 9 months.  But it is now the
beginning of kitten season so I am afraid that might not be the case
right now.  Should we take Boyfriend to them and trust that he will
find good humans?  
Debra in VA
See my quilts at
http://community.webshots.com/user/debplayshere