He's Not A Stray

This is Max. Some of my friends were trick or treating on Halloween and they went to one of my neighbors. She on the street north of us, but her house is just diagonal to ours. My friends saw a large bowl of cat food and they asked about it. The lady told them that it's for the stray cat. My friends asked what color and she said orange. They didn't know what color Max was. My friends have never seen him.



We rarely see him. In the summer, it's not unusual for him to disappear for days on end. The only sign of him is a disappearing food bowl that goes down every night. I was wondering why it seemed he was eating less. I thought he was snacking on various critters around the neighborhood. We've all seen the poor bunny he skinned. Apparently, our neighbors think he is a stray and he's getting his fill at several houses everyday. In the winter when the nighttime temperatures fall below freezing, Max decides he'll grace us with his presence.


This is the only time of year that he even wants in the house. When we first got Max almost 6 years ago, we kept him as an indoor cat. He drove us nuts. Meowing at all hours of the night and attacking my feet under the covers. He needed to hunt. He clearly was not meant to be cagged. We've freed him and we are all much happier.


But, he's not a stray!