For the past fifteen years my next-door- neighbor and I have cared for an outside feral cat that she TNR’ed. We named him Duke because he walks with a John Wayne swagger and has a crooked mouth.
She has a feeding station set up with heated food/water bowls and we set up a warm bed in our car CoverIt shelter so he would have a place to sleep and hang out protected from the winter elements and predators. In the winter we even shovel a path from the shelter to the feeding station.Many, many cats have come and gone through the neighborhood yet old Duke somehow survived all of the dangers. Oh he has scared us plenty over the years, disappearing for days at a time and when it hit minus 20, as it always does in January and February, we worried sick that he wouldn’t make it. With yet another winter coming we shared our concerns that he would not be able to survive it. But he would not let us touch him and he was too smart to fall for being trapped again.
Then…….two months ago he walked up to my neighbor as she was going out her door…..she held it open, stood to the side and told him was OK, he could come inside and be safe for the rest of his life…….he strolled right in. It was his decision, his terms
Now he sleeps beside the pellet stove, has a belly full of wet food and has become a total lap cat! He shares the home with five other cats (all former strays) and he won’t even go NEAR the door to outside. I would never have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes – he climbed right up on my lap and rubbed my hand as if to say “thank you for helping to care for me all those years”
We are SO relieved he is inside and safe and loved for however many years he has left. Duke finally got his happy ending.
Oh you’re not the least bit sorry ;-)