Our Cat Whisperer

One afternoon in late August, Savannah was sitting by herself in the backyard when she was surprised to see a cat come out of the woods. The cat came near her but not close enough for her to pet. The cat was on the smaller side and definitely thin. Savannah came and told me about the cat so we opened a can of tuna...and found ourselves the adoptive family of not just this cat but two kittens as well. Over the next few days this mother cat continued to come to us for food which we willingly and, on the kids part, eagerly gave. We didn't see much of the kittens; they were no more than 7 or 8 weeks and extremely skittish.

We could tell that the mother cat had probably once been owned by someone because, although wary of us, we could very slowly approach her and she would let us pet her. We started leaving her food up on our deck and laid a towel out for her to sleep on which she did. Most mornings we would find the kitties snuggled next to her on the blanket but as soon as we would open the door, those kitties would take off like little rockets. Some times they even jumped right off the deck to the ground below if we stood too close to the stairs.

Eventually the kitties got to an age where their mother decided it was time to ditch them. Off she went into the woods, never to return...but the kittens remained. It is now mid-December, almost 4 months that we have had these cats. In that time, Savannah has spent hours outside with them, gaining their trust and affection. I didn't think they could ever be tamed, being feral cats, but Savannah has succeeded. When Savannah goes outside, they go running to her; they rub up against her for pets and kisses. Do they allow any of the rest of us to come near them? NO!

Savannah, the cat whisperer.