One spring morning in June 2010 my husband, James, sighted a black and white kitten at Munroe Falls Metro Park where he worked. Someone had dumped it off at the park a couple weeks prior and James had been trying to trap it before one of the many predators got to him. It was a common occurrence for animals to get abandoned at the park, and sadly they often became food for the hawks, coyotes and other animals.
I’ll never forget getting a text from him early in the morning, “I got him!”. Several hours later he was walking in the door with a trap that held a frighten little kitten. As we always do when we bring a new animal into the house, it went straight into our quarantine room until we could get it to the vet. It didn’t take us long to suspect that all it’s hissing, arching back and fluffy tail might mean that he was very feral. Still, we took him to the vet to get neutered, tested, dewormed, vacated and treated for fleas.
Once home, I tried to work with him but it was plain to see he was eager to get back outside and away from us. Right around that time, we got a call from a woman that lived in Loudonville, Ohio where we were seasonal campers. Word had gotten around that we did animal rescue and she was wondering if we could find her a cat. But not just any cat, she wanted one that would stay outside and help keep the mice population down.
Normally, we would not adopt a cat out to anyone that was going to keep it outside. However, in this case, we thought it might be the perfect solution for Felix (unnamed at the time). He was already feral and preferred outside. So, we thought letting her adopt him as a barn cat where he would have consistent food, shelter and someone looking out for him would be a much better way to release him back outside.
The plan was to take Felix to his new home a week later. That was until we received a phone call from the adopter that she ended up finding an outside cat that showed up at her doorstep. It was eating the mice so she no longer needed another cat.
It had been a month since we rescued Felix from the park and he was getting used to being indoors. Although, getting used to us was another story. We kept him on the lower level of our home, also used as our home office, thinking if he was around us all the time, he would get used to us. There was a large bay window that looked out at our backyard where various birdfeeders were placed. A perfect spot for birdwatching. He also spent his days basking in the sun on top of the tall cat tree next to the window. As long as we didn’t try to touch him, he was good.
Every night I would go downstairs to the office to spend some quality time trying to get him used to me. I purchased one of those fishing toys, where there’s a bird or mouse or some kind of noisy thing on the end of a stick with string, it looked like a fishing pole. He absolutely loved it. He got to use his hunting skills by stalking the critter on the other end of the string. He would launch himself into the air, swiftly attacking it to the ground where he would grab it with his mouth and proudly carry it off to his hiding place. He had so much fun and I enjoyed watching him.
I would also bring my nightly snack downstairs which he became very interested in. Ice cream was a particular favorite. In fact, he got brave enough to swat my hand away so he could get inside the bowl and lick up the special treat.
Another thing I would do is lay on the floor and let him walk around me. He would stalk me at first, then walk around and sniff the outline of my body. He would tap me to see if I would move. Surprisingly, he even sniffed my face and I swear, he gave me a kiss!
Before I knew it, the first days of October were here and not much progress. Our own cats were starting to get annoyed that we wouldn’t let them in their favorite birdwatching room, and in reality, it wasn’t fair to them not too. As the days started to get cold outside, I knew I had to make a decision fast. If we were going to place him back outside, we needed to do it right away so that he had time to build up his winter coat. Otherwise, he would not survive the cold Ohio weather. After consulting with our vet, she thought we should have released him much sooner and we would be taking a chance releasing him now. There was one other problem, I was getting very attached to him, and in the end, I just couldn’t give up on this little guy.
Fast forward to December. There was still no change except he had met our own cats through the bottom of the door that separated them. Several times a day the cats from upstairs would stick their paws underneath the door and together they would bat, sniff and lick each other’s paws. This must have made Felix curious enough to plan an escape to the other side. One evening as I opened the door to the office, just enough to slip my body inside, it happened. I saw a flash of black and white, slip between my legs and up the upstairs he went!
I will never forget seeing him stand there at the top of the stair, frozen, while several other cats stared back at him. He looked back at me with a big, long meow. Then suddenly he was gone and zooming around the dining room, into the living room, behind the chairs, over the couch and up the next set of stairs where he disappeared. It wasn’t until the next morning that we heard signs of him in the basement rafters.
Side note: In case you’re wondering, our home is a tri-level home that consists of four main levels. Bedrooms/bath on the top floor, living room, dining room and kitchen on the second, office on the third, laundry room, storage, bedroom and second bathroom on the fourth. A great house for a cat that didn’t want to be found!
Felix hid for several weeks, only coming out at night or when we were gone. That was until one Saturday morning, I will never forget it. James was working that weekend so the cats and I had the bed all to ourselves. As I was waking up, my eyes still closed, I started petting one of the cats. When I finally opened my eyes and looked down, there was FELIX!! He was curled up into the curve of my belly.
He was still in dreamland, but his body would move to the touch of my hand. He eventually opened up his belly so I could give him a belly rub. This went on for about 10 minutes. During this time I wanted to shout out to someone saying “Felix is in bed with me and he is letting me pet him!!” I was so incredibly happy! This was a miracle indeed.
He finally started to opened his eyes. As soon as he saw me his eye grew BIG! He slowly looked around the room and back at me. That’s when panic shot through him and he shot out of bed, ran into the wall, banged into the dresser and out the door, where we did not see him for the rest of the day! Ha-ha
The next time we saw him was a few days later, only this time he stayed upstairs where we could see him. He would situate himself so that he could watch us and the other cats from behind a chair or under the couch. Curiosity was getting to him again.
Two weeks later another miracle happened. This time James was home to witness it. Just like before, I woke up and to my surprise, Felix was laying beside me. I decided to slowly start petting him. Only this time when he woke up, he didn’t panic or run. Instead, he moved his body closer to me for more! I talked to him softly and told him how happy it made me that he was letting me pet him. As I spoke to him, he gave me another surprise, he inched up close to my face, sniffed me, and gave me a wet nose kiss, then laid back down for more belly rubs! I assume in all his observations, he decided that this might be a pretty cool place to live after all!
Since that day, Felix has become one of our most lovable cats! He still runs and hides when we have company, only coming out for people he knows and trusts but that’s OK with us. The bond we have with him is indescribable and so rewarding! I am so very glad that I did not give up on him!
Felix also taught me so much during all those months that he shied away from us. He will forever be my reminder to be always be kind, loving and patient even to those that may not be receptive to it right away. The saying “loves always wins” is true! ❤️
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