It's a BOY!

It has been confirmed. What we have is definitely a little tom cat and he has certainly become braver since the last post. Our little friend has recently developed the habit of coming for his dinner of leftovers every night on the back porch. For awhile he was untouchable, but just in the past few days we have been able to pet him for as long as it takes him to clean the plate. Then immediately he will back off and remain on the porch just out of reach.

Last evening it was pouring down rain. Our friend had stationed himself on the back porch standing watch. I think because of the rain, DH was able to tempt him to cross the threshold into the mudroom for a short time. Later on, I prepared him his dish of leftover T-Bone steak. I set the food about three feet inside the door and invited him in. Slowly, cautiously he stepped inside and began to devour his dinner. At about this time, one of the other feral cats tiptoed up the steps and sat down... unnoticed by our voracious kitty. The new guy sat there and waited. I know that if cats could drool, this one would be drooling. "Where's mine?", he must have been thinking. I continued to pet our American Shorthair as he gobbled down that scrumptious steak dinner. As soon as he finished, the plan was to dart away and out of my reach. He finished his last bite and quickly turned heels to head out the door to a safe distance... but WHOA! There's that other cat! Our friend screeched his little brakes, hissed like he has never hissed at us, and let out the best growls he could muster as a warning.

Now he is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Myself, on one side, along with the unfamiliar territory of the indoors and this rival tom just outside on the porch. What was he to do? The stand-off lasted for a few minutes. The new tom was not going anywhere and our friend had no intention of going further into the house. I finally ended it by grabbing a bone out of the kitchen and tossing it out the door to the intruder. He took off and promptly collided with the bone as it flew through the air. Whap! Oooh, sorry, guy! But this opened up the chance for our cornered friend to make his getaway and scramble he did! It was during this stand-off that I was able to confirm the presence of "boy parts" on our little guy as he circled around the mudroom between myself and the door, wondering what to do.

Our little friend has been very vocal...almost more than the Siamese I have known. His nervous but friendly "MEOWS" are interjected with startled hisses if we move too quickly or get too close when he is not preoccupied with wolfing down his plate of food. But progress is happening! I hope that the episode in the mudroom will not deter him from braving another entry into the house. Hopefully we will not have to wait for another downpour to find out.