"I'm Bullseye and I'm the new kid here. Except I'm not a kid anymore. I am officially a big boy and this is my barn. I keep an eye on everything up here. It's a Big Job."
"I watch everything including the sheep and the chickens, but mostly I watch for the lady who feeds me. I really like food and I've learned that I really like pets and cuddles too. The food lady says that's a Big Job too!"
This is where things started. I heard a cat crying at the back door one snowy bitterly cold morning early in February. I opened the door and found a half grown kitten...and Archie. I'm not sure if it was just a coincidence they were out there together or if Archie told him to follow him home and get some breakfast.
We tried for several days to trap him, but while he was young he already had some street smarts and I realized it was going to take some time. If we'd have known for sure he was a boy, I wouldn't have been so panicked, but for a good while I was pretty sure he was a she and fixing to be a teen mom :-(.
I set the heated box up on the porch and he sat in there for a little while, but I think Possum ran him off. Possum can be very not nice to other cats and he was no exception. He'd find a warm-ish spot and the next day he'd have moved on to a different spot. I was not sure what I was going to do about that, especially if there were kittens coming.
One night I got him trapped in the greenhouse and hoped I could get a better look at him, but the greenhouse is frail and he figured out how to break out one of the back panels. A day or so after that he moved up to the barn and started sneaking in for offered food up there.
I set up the big dog crate, started feeding him at the front, then the middle and then the back and then shut the door and we were off to the vet where we learned he was just a potbellied wormy boy and not a way too young girl getting ready to have kittens. Whew!
I kept him in the cage for several days and got to where I could pet him some and I thought he was good and settled and wouldn't split at first chance and then finally opened the door. I told him he was now an Equinox Farm cat and that it was a pretty good place to be a cat...except for Possum ;-).
That was Saturday and he's taken over the barn and even seems to be winning over Possum...or at least flying under her radar. He's super friendly with me and just needs some experience with strangers and I think he's going to be one of the nicest kitties we've ever had :-).
3 comments:
Archie is bringing home friends! Bullseye is a cute name how ever did you come up with it?
That was a fast turn-around!
Great story! A lucky boy to have a Mom like you.
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