Mr. Kibble: trying to help

Well, I left off last time where Diane had managed to get Mr. Kibble into her house. She later told me she was concerned that he wouldn't make it through the winter, so she and her husband managed to trap him in a large carrier they had. She is not afraid of cats, but I guess he kind of went crazy after being captured, but they got the whole business into the basement and left him alone for a while.

Later, she went down intending to let him out, but couldn't get near the door of it; she didn't describe his behavior to me, but I guess it was pretty wild -  she was at a loss until she eventually thought to remove the pins from the back of the contraption to take it apart, and then she ran upstairs. A few hours later, he had calmed down.

sunning himself recently atop the cat shelter - his new home, I guess!

This was early November, and they intended to keep him inside unless they could be sure he would stay close to home. He kept to himself downstairs most of the time; the other cats would go down, but there was never any trouble. Eventually, he did come upstairs at feeding times where he'd wait for food with the others, and that went well. 

But one day, there was a fight with one of her females, the only one of her cats who hasn't been neutered, a female house cat. Mr. K. bit her on the paw and stomach.  Diane felt she had to let him out. She doesn't know who started it, but she had to think of her own cat's safety. This was in mid-May. I didn't know any of this until one fine spring day I looked out to see him coming up our driveway; I called Diane and she told me the story.

So, between the two of us, and an elderly neighbor who also keeps dry cat food out, we have been trying very hard to keep our eyes peeled for him to keep him near so he won't be tempted to wander where we won't know how he is. 

To be continued.