here we go again?

nine years ago, almost to the day, i blogged about herbie the stray cat. well, last weekend, we met another slim, friendly seemingly stray cat, who'd been wandering onto my parents' porch almost daily for about two weeks. 

recalling the situation with herbie, mom had decided to feed this cat and give it water to help it stay healthy. she also wanted to earn its trust so that, eventually, she might be able to scoop it up and bring it to toronto animal services.

on thanksgiving weekend, YB and i were visiting (for a traditional thanksgiving meal of... chicken fajitas and tiramisu), and we decided to see if we could maybe coax the cat out from wherever it lived by shaking a bag of treats and making cat-calling-esque noises in the backyard.

after a few minutes, from who knows where, this skinny petite black-and-white cat came trotting over to YB, who easily led it around to the front porch. there, the cat happily allowed itself to be pet and scratched, eventually flopping itself over for belly rubs. purring the entire time, too.

i managed to snap these photos during the five-or-so minutes the cat stuck around. when it decided it was time to go, that's what it did... and trotted back to the backyard and through the neighbouring yards.

YB fell hard for this cat and now wants to adopt it (assuming, of course, it's not microchipped and doesn't clearly belong to anyone). she'd been thinking of getting a friend for larry for a while, so this cat might be it.

or it might not. the cat is so tame and friendly that it's most definitely not feral. it might have belonged to someone who abandoned it, or it might have scooted out the door of its home and been unable to find its way back. or maybe its owners just let it out to roam all day and then it goes home at night to sleep. who knows?

for now, mom keeps feeding it. and YB keeps pondering what she'll need to do if the cat really is unchipped and healthy.

UPDATE: mystery solved. the cat has a home... around the corner from my parents' place and about eight houses away. yesterday, during a visit from the cat, YB put a paper collar around its neck. the collar had a note written on it: "is this your cat? we've been feeding it. please call..." and then my parents' phone number. within an hour of the cat trotting away, and while YB was still at my parents' house, the phone rang and a confused guy was on the line saying, "um, my cat has a note to call you...?" 

he said they let the cat out because "it gets into trouble in the house." (::: eyeroll :::) he didn't know what a microchip is, and said the cat didn't have a collar because sometimes he (the owner) takes it off. (::: eyeroll :::) YB said she could hear little kids in the background during the call, so she figures it's a family whose priorities aren't necessarily ensuring their cat is safe. she said the guy was very nice, but she encouraged him to collar the cat and get it chipped. oh, and it turns out the cat is a female and about two years old (the guy said they got her as a kitten). fin.