Well it seems we now have two cats. Mia will always be No 1 but Tom is now a regular fixture. Tom appeared a year or so ago and neighbours all claim to have fed him but I think we were doing more than our fair share. We put a bed for him in the summer house and in the polytunnel and he got used to being around. This spring he got into one of his regular nightly fights and was in a right state so we managed to get a trap from a rescue charity and took him to be cleaned up and neutered. That was after I tried to catch him and got bitten. The result was a trip to the doctor as well as the vet and the nurse kindly told me it was the last tetanus jab I would need because they now last for 20 years.

Tom sometimes rubbed against our hand when we fed him but was not keen on a fuss. And then, about a month ago, something clicked. He suddenly liked a fuss and would come for a stroke and brush. And every day he gets more friendly. He now sits on the doorstep waiting for a fuss. He has a cute double purr and rolls over for tummy rubs and gently holds our hand as we stroke his tummy, rolling over and purring. He follows us around the garden, wanting attention, and I think he would like strokes and fusses all day if we were inclined. He wanders into the house now and then, but we do not encourage this at the moment.

He is a poor battered old thing (we don’t know his age) with torn ears and his tongue is also torn. In fact, yesterday morning he was not at the doorstep at 6.30am as usual and appeared an hour later with another gash in his front leg – where he always seems to get injured – but I have some spare ‘cat painkiller medicine and gave him a dose and he has seemed fine all day. When we have roast chicken thighs he gets the ‘rough bits’ and the skin so he has been scoffing that today so he is happy. He has an endearing habit of leaving his tongue sticking out after grooming.

Mia tolerates him but I think Tom is lonely and he follows her around the garden. I think she gets fed up with being followed and sometimes he tries to play and she usually turns and hisses. I think this is normal behaviour for two cats living together but I do worry that Mia is fed up with him sometimes. He rarely does anything other than back off when she hisses but she often gives him a bop on the head (no claws) and he responds by backing off. He sits outside in the morning waiting for her to come out and play but she looks at him, gives him a bop on the head and walks off.

When he is near her she tends to hide and watch but then run after him. I can’t tell if she is having fun or just annoyed!

The time is coming when I need to decide what the next stage will be. Tom seems healthy but I don’t want him to be carrying anything, for the sake of Mia more than anything. So I am trying to get Tom used to being handled so I can take him to the vet one day and get a check up and some jabs. I can pick him up and put him on my lap, though he doesn’t stay for long. But it is a start.

Mia will always be No. 1 but we do feel responsible for Tom now.

mia