Mr. Cat let me pet him today!

[Ocelot II]

I've been feeding this guy for almost a year, and now he basically lives on my front porch, where he has a heated chair, food and water bowls and a little shelter. He's been pretty skittish, and it took months before he decided to talk to me. At first he was greeting me with a hesitant little "Eep?" but soon he got louder and more vocal, and now his greeting is a rather imperious "Yow! Yow!" But he wouldn't let me touch him, even though he would take bits of chicken from my fingers. Today we had a breakthrough, though. I put food in his bowl, and he came right up and started eating like he always does, not afraid to start chowing while I'm still dishing out his dinner. This time I very hesitantly touched the back of his head, and he didn't pull away, so I kept stroking his back while he ate. It didn't seem to bother him at all. I'm so excited! Maybe someday I can get him to purr...

[Siwsan]

1. FANTASTIC!!!

That is such a major accomplishment!!

[spooky3]

2. He'll be moving inside in no time! :-) nt

[MLAA]

3. That is major progress!

The dude was probably thinking, regular food source and a heated chair….It probably won’t kill me to acknowledge her kindness ❤️ 🐈

[XanaDUer2]

4. Thanks for caring for him nt

[SheltieLover]

5. Wow!

Congrats!

[zuul]

6. Yay!

[MFM008]

7. Hell i can barely

Get mine to let me pet him and hes 12 and an indoor cat.....😸😸

[TomSlick]

22. Yeah, I've got his brother in my house.

[niyad]

8. Oh, that is such good and encouraging news. Thank you so much for sharing!

Do say hello to him from all his DU friends.

[Karadeniz]

9. The tougher the nut, the harder it falls !!!!

[FuzzyRabbit]

10. Good job. Congratulations.

It's so gratifying when a cat starts trusting you.

[Nanuke]

11. Wonderful...

That you are taking such good care of him and that he is getting more trusting.

[cstanleytech]

12. Always loved cats more than dogs except for the smaller more cuddly ones like

papillons who I love almost as much a cats.
About the only thing I do not love about cats is cleaning the litterbox but I suspect the majority of people would probably agree with me over that one lol

[question everything]

13. Picture?

[Ocelot II]

15. From last summer:

[question everything]

18. Oh, how precious. Does Pixie take such nice pictures, too?

[Ocelot II]

19. Of course!

[question everything]

20. Even through the photo she feels so soft and cuddly

[LoCo Cat Lady]

14. Feral Love

I've been doing TNR and feeding the ferals for over a decade and it's such an amazing experience, every time, to have affection from them. It's progress...even though it's baby steps. But what a wonderful feeling when they let you love on them...and you hear the purring.

[llashram]

16. with having

feline fur buddies since '75, you've made a buddy...

[Jack-o-Lantern]

17. If my cats don't go to heaven I want to go where they went.

[KT2000]

21. Congrats!!

Thank you for your patience! Love success stories like this.

[Warpy]

23. Purring is unreliable, it can be with pain, anxiety, and other negative things

I always knew I was "in" when I got a subtle tail swipe across my lower legs.

Mr. Cat has apparently had a home at some point in his life since he's relatively friendly. Best thing to do is sit with him while he eats. Eventually, you'll be able to touch him enough to get a drop of flea and tick medicine on him. I noticed semi feral cats got a lot happier once I'd taken care of their external parasites. Internal parasites involved getting pills into them and that took a lot more work. It was just so gratifying to see a bedraggled animal's fur fill in and dull eyes start to sparkle that I kept plugging away at it.

It sounds like Mister is going to be a good companion, whether he insists on staying outdoors or comes on in, say next winter.

There's a neighborhood tabby cat who often comes by for a bit of conversation who now comes on in like she owns the place if she's around when I run out to get the mail. This is not a problem for me.

[Ocelot II]

24. Mr. C. appears to be quite young - when he first turned up last spring

he wasn't as big as he is now, and he was rather thin. I'm not sure if he ever had a home; if he did it wasn't for very long. He is filled out now, his fur is shiny and he looks generally quite healthy (maybe because he gets plenty to eat - I call him the Bottomless Kit). My plan is to get him to a vet so he can be neutered, vaccinated and treated for any parasites. Maybe he can be tamed enough to become a house cat.