Introducing Big Gray

I mentioned Big Gray in passing last week, but she deserves her own post.

We have fed the neighborhood cats off-and-on since we've lived in Akron. I've always hoped one of them would work out (remember Stacy?). In late spring/early summer, we had two regulars: Elena, a small black momma cat, and Big Gray, a larger, kind of mangy female. Elena was the early favorite, but then she got strangely skittish and then disappeared. I don't like to think about what happened to her, but she was very sweet so there's that naive hope that someone else (maybe where her kittens were?) took her in.

First photo of Big Gray

Big Gray, however, became very punctual. If we slept in or were out of town, we felt guilty. She started hanging out in our yard when we weren't there, after eating, she sought attention -- she was becoming ours.

Eventually we went to a TNR Clinic at One of a Kind Pets and found out that they have a feral cat package where you can bring in a trapped cat, get them fixed and vaccinated and then release them. Because she wasn't really ours and we weren't sure what would happen, we went that route. Two weeks ago, before work, we trapped her and took her in.

I picked her up the next day and set her up in the spare room to heal. She was super-sweet and used the litterbox. She's not living outside ever again! Last week, I took her to my vet for a checkup and bloodwork, and it's all good. (I was really expecting an infection or kidney disease or something, so the call that the bloodwork was good was surprising.)

The only thing is that her teeth are terrible. I have a dental scheduled for early October (wanted to give her time to recovery fully from the spay), and the vet anticipates pulling 5 to 7 teeth. We can tell that her mouth bothers her, and we're hoping that she'll be in a better mood after that.

The vet said it's hard to tell her age because her teeth are so bad, but she's probably around 6 years old (same-ish age as Duncan). She is mostly sleeping with us and ignoring Duncan. Sometimes we have to bribe her downstairs with treats (she LOVES 'em), but then she hangs out with us.

Duncan just loves her, though. Honestly, he's kind of a creeper. He likes to be near her, and he watches her a lot. I don't know if she'll ever really play with him -- he's definitely a rough-houser -- but I think their relationship will improve. When I left for work this morning, he was chasing her. (On the plus side, she's moving very well. Lots more running and jumping than two weeks ago.) I'm trying to let them work out their relationship. She can handle herself.

During the day, it's a lot of this where he's nearby:

 

And I woke up in the middle of the night to find this:

I'm guessing she didn't realize he was there. Look how his butt is kind of hanging off the bed! When she's in our bed, Duncan sleeps in the hallway and just watches the bedroom. Hopefully he'll rejoin us soon.

All in all, I'm super-happy with our new addition. Dunks may still need a kitten, but I think Gray is going to fit in just fine.