Let's Talk About Teddy

     About a year ago I began to notice a cat wandering around the property.  It was in the fall and all I could think was, "He'll never make it through the winter!" Well lo and behold that cat did make it! All last spring and summer I saw him in and out of the barn, always on the hunt. Occasionally the cat would creep onto the back porch and have a stare down through the screen with my other cats, Beejay and Scamper. I would chase him away!

     I did notice that my chipmunk problem had disappeared which was good. I'm sure the mouse population was down also.  But sadly I began to notice some bird casualties.  This annoyed me and my opinion of the cat sunk further. My brother came to visit and when he spotted the feline I explained about him. Rich said I ought to call the cat "Teddy" as he was always "hugging" all the animals he could.

     The name stuck and I continued to see Teddy everywhere.  He always skedaddled though whenever I approached. Slowly over the summer we began to build some trust and he no longer took flight when I approached calling his name....or was it her name?

     One day we pulled in the driveway only to see Teddy wrestling a squirrel on our front porch! Go get him Teddy! I began to enjoy seeing him and decided to try to make friends with him. It was slow going until later in the fall. I began to leave him a dish of food on the back porch as it got colder. He seemed to appreciate it and soon was waiting by the back door each morning for his breakfast.

     We became great friends and soon I could pet Teddy and rub his flanks at will. He began to follow me around when I was outside doing chores and we had some nice talks in the barn. I think you can see where al of this was heading. I trapped him and took him to the vet for shots and a checkup.

     The lady at vet office reception said, "My that is a large cat.  Is she pregnant?" I was taken aback by this as I hadn't thought about this cat being female. Theodora? I was quite relieved when the vet informed me that it was indeed a male, in fact already neutered! That explained why I couldn't see his junk! Back to being Teddy!

     Since we were only weeks away from this trip, I needed to put domestication on the front burner!  Would he get along with the girls? I was wary!

     Fast forward to today.  What a wonderful cat!  Such a lover! And has never once even looked at going outside. Teddy knows a good deal after being out in the real world all that time! So now we are three cats learning to get along just fine. I am glad Teddy is aboard but no more on this little bus!

    I sit here with Teddy on my lap licking my hand and I wonder how he went all that time on his own without a friend and a good home. Just a great cat!!!