I've already announced this in RPCC and on Usenet, but those of you who
don't read there won't have heard yet. We have added another kitty to
our clowder.

When we first moved in to our house in Kansas City we noticed a bunch of
cats in the area. We started setting out food for them, and when the
weather got cold we built them some insulated shelters. In mid-February
of 2019 one of the kitties passed away. We thought that he might have a
human caring for him, so we asked around. We learned that the people who
lived in the house before us had cats, and when they moved they just
tossed them out. Observation and interaction has shown that they
discarded at least 6 cats, maybe more.

Some of the cats socialized faster than others. The first 2 cats to get
comfortable enough to let me pet them were a smallish black longhair
that I named Midnight, and a BEAUTIFUL tortie with fur as soft was
Cleopatra's used to be, that I named Misty. We got them both into KC Pet
Project and both were adopted very quickly.

The next pair we worked on were a striped grey tabby and a beautiful
buff-colored cat. The grey guy, who Nancy named Sarge for his stripes,
didn't and doesn't come along all that often. We took him to the shelter
and got him vaccinated and neutered and released him again in our
garage. Even though he let us pet him he was still way to wild to be an
indoor cat. Beside, Ranger absolutely hates him! When Ranger sees Sarge
out on the front porch he goes ape****! Hissing, screaming, swatting at
the glass - totally wild.

The buff cat, though, was the most timid of the bunch. He initially
wouldn't allow us to get closer than 20 or 30 feet. Since we didn't
interact with him much I just called him Buff Cat. He did slowly come
around, letting us get closed. He finally allowed me to pet him briefly
while he was eating, then got comfortable enough that he came up to me
demanding petting before he would let me put his food down. When I went
back into the house he would try to follow me in. I named him Fred.

A couple weeks ago we decided that Fred needed to be an indoor cat, so
we took him to the shelter where we volunteer. He got fixed and vaxxed
and put in the adoption area, but he really hated being in the adoption
kennel. A week ago Nancy and I went and adopted him. He has spent the
last week in Nancy's sewing room, letting him decompress and get used to
the sounds and smells of the house and the other cats.

I expect that in another week or so we'll be able to open up the sewing
room and just put a baby gate across the door, to let Fred and the other
cats see each other. Fred's photo is at
http://www.catfolks.net/FredSitting-29Jan2020.jpg

Two of the abandoned cats have passed away. I already mentioned the
handsome orange guy we found dead in the garage. When I was raking some
leaves from the north side of the house (where I never go unless I'm
raking leaves) I found the remains (bone and some fur) of another cat. I
don't I ever saw this kitty while it was alive.

The last remaining cat I have been calling Lucky. He (or she) us a
beautiful solid white cat with a solid black tail. Unfortunately he's
even more skittish that Fred was. I've seen him only 3 times - once from
across the street as he was running away from our garage, once as he
dashed under the garage door when I went out to put down cat food, and
once through the window in the front door as he walked across our yard.
He didn't appear to be overly skinny, but I worry that being so timid
will result in him getting beat up by more alpha cats.