We've always had domestic cats. It was in 1994 when we had Patches, an aging female calico and Buffy a young energetic female. We were partial to females at the time and always had them spayed at the earliest opportunity. Buffy would guard the property and eagerly chase off the cats she didn't approve of. However, some cats both domestic and feral were tolerated by her.

It was about that time when we began to notice a very mature black male feral cat hanging around and chilling out with Patches and Buffy. We could tell he had really been around and that life might not have been good to him. The girls (as we called them) completely accepted him and he was real sweet with them knowing that neither one of them could satisfy his primal urges.

We could hear him in the night, roaming the property, moaning and pining for female company. The girls slept with us and raised their heads whenever they heard him outside.

Every morning, he would be waiting for me at the den door where I went out to get the newspaper. I began feeding him and he gradually started coming into the kitchen to eat with the girls. He was very mellow for a feral cat and the girls liked him. He and I became buddies and this is how I got started taking in feral cats.

After awhile the old black cat and I were getting pretty tight. I was amazed that I could eventually pick him up, put him on my lap and pet him. This was my first encounter with a feral cat and he certainly needed to be loved. He wasn't a particularly handsome animal. In fact he looked a little dog chewed, but his disposition and that loving look in his eye overcame all that.

Every morning the routine was the same. He'd come in, eat, get some loving, lay around, scratch a bit and lick himself silly. Why do cats lick so much and then go out and roll in the dirt? After he had his fill of goodies, he'd be gone until the next morning.

We named him Freddy after the Miles Davis jazz tune "Freddy the Freeloader" because we would joke about him freeloading off us. We eventually had him neutered and he became part of our family.

Copyright © Bill Franks
November 22, 2003