I've been outside with a feral orange and white tabby boy that I've named Tiger. I've always said that if we could add one more cat, it would be an orange and white baby. Tiger is at least a year old. My daughter heard him meowing outside. We lured him to our patio and set up a makeshift shelter with food and water. I'll be calling the no-kill shelter to see if they can take him, but my heart is breaking. He's just like Star. He was rubbing on my legs and head-butting my hand. Obviously I can't bring him in because I don't know if he has anything that would make my babies sick, but I'm already in love with him. I know David wouldn't let us keep him, but he's my dream kitty. I'm in tears because I want to keep him. Star and Lucky are so curious about him. They're sitting by the glass door looking at him and he's looking at them. Lucky even tried to touch him through the glass. Midnight isn't thrilled about Tiger being on our patio. She's already hissed at him.

How can I be in love with a cat I just met 45 minutes ago??

Yup you can...it was love at first sight with me and Milo. :luv2:

I could've sworn I posted this a few days ago...anyway here's the first update:

Well, after my initial post, Tiger left our patio. He came back an hour and a half later, but only stayed for a few minutes. As of 8:30 am PDT, he hasn't been back. However, my daughter did put out some food for him and placed it inside his makeshift shelter. I really hope he comes back...he can't make me fall in love with him and then not come back. I still plan on calling the no-kill shelter, though. At least I can find out if they have room for him and if so, somehow make our patio more enticing to Tiger so that he'll stay in his shelter and not leave the patio until I can get him over to the shelter. Any advice on how my daughter and I can make the patio more "Tiger-friendly"?

My second update:

Tiger hasn't been back since my second post about him. And I miss him terribly. :( I want him to come back so that he can get a good meal and have him become comfortable enough to want to come back to the patio. I don't really mind if he wants to come and go, but I want to be able to get him comfortable enough to go in a carrier if I have to bring him to the no-kill shelter myself. The only problem with that is I would be taking the bus. Maybe I'll cover the carrier so that he won't be freaked by the noises and stuff...but I'm getting ahead of myself. This is all in assumption that he comes back. I keep seeing his little face in my mind and it's driving me insane. My daughter had planned on taking some pictures of him so that I could post pictures of him for you. He's so precious. He's got the cutest little pumpkin head and his face...he looks like a kitten! Though he's at least a year old, he's as big as Star and Lucky...and they're almost four.

I'm pathetic, huh? :wha:

Most ferals will wander, but they do usually return now and then, especially when there's food available! If you can, keep some food & fresh water out for him. If there's room for a small doghouse, maybe add one of those.

He'll most likely roam for a a day or two and then give you a surprise visit.

Around 1 am this morning, my daughter couldn't sleep, so she was listening to her radio with her headphones and Lucky was sitting in her lap. All of a sudden Lucky sat up as if he heard something, so Lauren takes off her headphones and tries to hear what Lucky heard...and she heard Tiger! She comes downstairs and tells me, "Mommy, I hear Tiger. Do you want me to go see if he's okay?" I notice that she already has her shoes on, so I told her to go ahead. About 10 minutes later I hear a knock. I just figured it was someone knocking on my neighbor's door, so I ignored it. Then the knock came again, but this time was more urgent. I go to the glass door to see who it is and my daughter is on the patio with a Cheshire cat grin on her face. I'm puzzled until she points down by her legs. Tiger is on the patio! I run back to the kitchen and grab a can of cat food and take it outside for him. My baby was hungry and tore through it. Between bites, he'd stop and rub himself on our legs and headbutt our hands when we were petting him, trilling happily. Lauren decided to see what would happen if we opened the glass door about 12 inches because both Star and Lucky were trying to "talk" to Tiger and vice versa. With Star and Lucky on one side of the screen door and Tiger on the other, we let them sniff at each other...and there was absolutely NO hissing or growling! It was so cute! We stayed out there for about half an hour, but we both had to go inside as it was about 45 degrees Fahrenheit outside. It broke our hearts that we had to close the glass door, but by then the living room was getting as cold as it was outside. Tiger stayed for another 10 minutes, then left. I'm hoping that he comes back tonight/tomorrow morning, though I wish he'd come by during the day so I can get a better look at his coloring. I know he's a striped orange and white tabby. He's more like an orange and white tuxie, with white mittens (front paws) and white socks (back legs). I think his eyes are a copper color.