Sylvester

This is my new friend. I call him Sylvester.

He reminds me of the Looney Tunes cat:

And he's also pretty muscular and fit, like another Sylvester:

He's very friendly. I'm not sure if he is a stray. He may be someone's pet. He looks very healthy. And it's the way that he is fearless around me and eagerly approaches, letting me pet him, and purring when he rubs against my legs that makes me think he is a pet, not a stray.

My two strays have a wildness in them. They're calm and come into my apartment, but there's always this wariness, this feeling that they're ready to bolt for the door, should anything surprise them. But they are friendlier now than when I first fed them. Still, there's a toughness that emanates from my strays, even when they're just relaxing on my porch.

I like the new cat. I first spotted him one evening as I was returning from taking out the trash to the dumpster. I noticed a white patch in the bushes. I called out gently, and out of the shadows emerged this cat.

He cautiously followed me home, sat on the porch while I got some food and water. He meowed and eagerly ate the food, hung out for an hour afterward, then went back out in the dark night--probably on some important cat business. I don't have the security clearance to know where cats go off to in the night.

It's been two weeks since he started coming around in the evenings for a meal. The two strays and the upstairs neighbors' black cat were unfriendly at their first meeting. There was much hissing and yowling from the other three. I had to stay out there to maintain an uneasy peace as they all ate.

Now the two strays tolerate Sylvester as they each eat at their own food bowl. But the upstairs black cat still hisses and waits for Sylvester to finish eating and leave. Then the black cat approaches and eats. That black cat is such a diva, but he makes me laugh.

I hope Sylvester really is someone's pet. And I hope he continues to come around for dinner for many years to come.