About a month ago, one of my closest friends died suddenly of a
massive heart attack at the age of 53. He was like a brother to me. It
was a great shock and since then, I have been struggling to cope with
the loss.

I can't remember when it was, but I was driving home from work when I
called out to my friend and asked him to give me a sign of some sort
that he was out there.

Well, a day or so later (I think two weeks ago Friday), I first
noticed the yowlings of a cat in the next door neighbor's yard, and
then he gravitated towards my yard. This doesn't happen often and when
it does, my strictly indoor cats (Cleo and Enkidu) go nuts. This time
they seemed calmer than usual. Also, this cat stuck around (the ones
that come into the yard usually don't). I also saw it on Saturday.

On Sunday, I came home from work to find the cat on top of the storage
hut directly outside my house, meowing very loudly. It was as though
he was saying "HEY, I'M TALKING TO YOU! LISTEN TO ME - NOWWWW (this is
not unlike the way my friend would talk to me sometimes:)! I finally
gave in and fed him some dry cat food. He was very wary at first, but
eventually he came round and ate all the food.

The cat settled in and perched in the little sheltered alcove right
underneath my side window. He only meowed when I passed by the window
and he could see me. I placed a mat down on the floor so that he
wouldn't come in direct contact with the cold ground.

The next morning, he was perched again on the storage hut, waiting for
his breakfast. I have tons of canned cat food and some dry food in the
house that my other cats don't like, so there is plenty to feed him.
This time when I gave him the food, he came up and rubbed against me.

It occured to me that morning that maybe my friend, who loved animals
and always kept a cat or two at home has indeed left me a sign?

It's been two weeks now and the cat (a tabby tom) who I've named
Scamito, has a bed (a cat carrier with soft bedding) that I've placed
on a shelf in the little alcove. I leave him dry cat food and place
some canned food out each morning. He's been coming and going now for
the past two weeks.

I'd like to trap him - but he is a bit on the wild side (certainly not
vicious). I'm concerned as there is a rabies alert in my neighborhood
and I really need to get him vaccinated. He's scratched me once on the
leg (I got a tetanus shot and kept an eye on him for 10 days after
that) and again slightly a few days ago when I've put out his food (I
was even wearing garden gloves). I think he just gets carried away or
is frightened of my hand. I also have a feeling he was abused and
dumped, because he is not at all scrawny. (He is actually quite pretty
with quizzical look on his face).

I'm nervous when I don't see him for more than 24 hours, the last time
I saw him was yesterday afternoon - in his bed. I know he was here
during the night because I saw "dents" in the food bowl.

The question is, do I have any hope of gaining this animal's trust? Is
there a chance he would calm down enough? The cat carrier now has the
door attached to it and the only time I can take him to the vet is in
the late afternoons when I come home from work. So it is a question of
luck if he is in his bed at the time and I can get the door closed. Is
it realistic to hope that someday I can get him to the vet,
innoculated and possibly fixed?

I think he has a bad case of worms (he had the runs) and I got a worm
pill from the vet and put it into his food (which he has thankfully
eaten).

I know it is a long, complicated haul but for obvious reasons I feel
an affinity for this cat and want to make the effort.

Has anyone had any experiences similar to this one (ie trapping a
stray?)

Your comments/stories would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Marcie