A New Addition to my Cat Family - Meet Clarence:-))

Tweet

OK - so most of my friends here will know I've been feeding a stray cat for about 9 months now. He was a poor, sorry thing - too scared to come anywhere near me or any other human being. What has happened to him in the past must have been really bad. Anyway - over the past months I have been slowly and quietly integrating him into our lives. First I left some food on the driveway for him. Then when the weather was really cold, I left the garage door open just in case he needed somewhere to shelter, and left some dried food in there. Slowly he got that he didn't run away when he heard my voice - he just cringed back and looked at me fearfully, - but he hung around long enough to eat whatever food I had left when the coast was clear. Later, he would sometimes let me stroke his head, and later still he took to coming in through our cat flap at night, and sleeping on an old chair in the kitchen. Though he always ran away as soon as we came downstairs. But now - finally after 9 months, he has started coming in when we're at home too. He walks up to us, and looks up at us,waiting for a cuddle or some food. he has so much love in his eyes - if he could talk I swear he's saying thanks and that we have saved his life! I named him Clarence after the lion in the old kids' TV series "Daktari". I called him such because I thought he was cross-eyed like the lion in the TV show........... but now I think it was just that he had an abscess and some bad damage above one eye that has left it permanently scarred:-(( But his vision seems fine. Later I will take him to the Vets, as he needs vaccinations, and neutering, but I am leaving that for a moth or so, just to make sure he isn't so spooked by the car and the whole traumatic Vet thing, that he regresses and runs away again. Anyway - thought I would introduce him to my cat loving friends here. And I'm especially pleased to report that my other 5 fur babies seem to have accepted him fine - presumably because he has been around the neighbourhood for so long he is just like part of the furniture to them. And my precious little Lily loves him:-)) Anyway - here is his photo in my garden this morning. I didn't want to get too close as the camera would probably scare him (everything else does!), but at least you can see him!