My Temple of Nature: Respectful Romeo

I've written before about some of the feral cats in my neighborhood. One of the feral cats that hangs out at my house my neighbors named Romeo. (There was one particular female cat that he would snuggle with that was named Juliet. But, unfortunately, about a month ago she was hit by a car and killed.) As far as cat etiquette goes he's very respectful of the other cats, never picks a fight and gets along with almost everybody, except for troublemaker Sammy. He and two other cats I call Van Gogh and Miss Kitty are nearly always close by, sometimes sitting on my porch if it's rainy or sunning themselves in my yard. Romeo, in particular, lets me pet him and is very sweet.

Romeo

He may know all things cat, but I don't think he has ever been inside a house - until mine. I have been trying to invite them in so that little by little they would feel comfortable coming inside. I would totally let them spend the night indoors on really cold nights and rainy and snowy days. Of course, I have cats of my own and Tanya especially has made it clear they are not welcome. And although she hisses and growls at them, she doesn't go so far as actually attack them. Romeo has made several attempts to make friends and even surprised her one day. He went right over to her, ignoring her rude hostess manners, they touched noses and she actually didn't growl at him ONCE. But since then every time he steps inside the house, she still has a hissy fit.

Van Gogh

All three have come through the door. Miss Kitty stays just inside the door for a few seconds and then goes right back out. Both Romeo and Van Gogh have actually spent a few minutes inside exploring and at least once each of them has gone all the way to the back of the house, checking out every room. Or at least I think they have. I don't follow them to see where they go in order to stay by the door and be able to let them back outside as soon as they get uncomfortable. Romeo has once totally gotten upset when I closed the screen door because he couldn't find his way back outside again. After I let him out, I followed him to make sure he had calmed down. He got this very sheepish look on his face as if to say, "Sorry, I freaked out!"

Miss Kitty

I now try to invite Romeo in when the TV is off because it totally freaks him out, as well as the computer. I have soft cushy cubes that my kitties like to sleep in and the other day when Romeo came inside Pugsley was in one of the cubes. The cube was angled so that Romeo couldn't see inside and all of a sudden Pugsley stepped out of it. Romeo's eyes got all wide and he made a mad dash for the door. He must have thought he'd just seen a David Copperfield magic act making a cat appear out of thin air. I wish I'd a video camera! I couldn't help but laugh out loud.