Being 'fostered', I think.

Not sure if there is a better term to use, or not. Being adopted as 'staff' might be more descriptive, were it a full time connection.

Some weeks ago, a very pretty black cat would sometimes be found around our house. Often, in the early morning, (Yes, Virginia, there is a dawn!), she would be resting under my truck, parked in the driveway, and would sometimes sort of mosey over closer to say hello, or whatever. Seems the people across the street had been feeding her, along with their own cats, but they do not lay claim to her, nor did they seem to know just where her official home was.

Other times, she might be sleeping, (a cat-nap, of course,) in our backyard, or we might see her carefully walking along the top of the fence, to get to either the front or rear of our house.

Well, as things go, Carol had occasion to purchase an off-brand of canned tuna a while back, and it had a 'fishy' taste that neither of us liked, but we ate it the first time. The next time she opened a can, again the smell was not real pleasing, and she tried a third can, with the same result. She then opened, and used, a can of her regular brand, and capped the two open cans, thinking perhaps of taking them to the store and checking to see if this was a normal smell/taste. After a couple of days, she hadn't gotten to the store, and happened to mention that just maybe, the cat outside might like some of it. WELL, she not only opened a can of tuna---but a can of worms, as well!!!

By the time the two cans of tuna were gone, a modest portion at a time, the habit of breakfast behind the house was well established, to the point of my feeling bad when I was going to run out of tuna, so I picked up a couple of cans of cat food, and the process began. She is here almost every morning, frequently waiting for us to appear, and sometimes when we happen to go out the utility room door, into the backyard, she will come jumping over the fence from behind our house, and come running up for a treat. She is not getting fed enough to sustain her, at our house, that is, and obviously has others feeding her as well. In fact, the couple across the street have named her "User", for her habit of coming by their house to eat as well.

She always waits so patiently, posing in classic cat poses, and never making any noises, at least until I go out to retrieve her feeding dish, and then she is very verbal, greeting and letting me know how hungry she is. She does not come into the house, although she has gotten curious enough lately that I think she would, given an opportunity, by my wife has no desire for that to happen.

Speaking of being verbal---do cats talk to each other??? This morning, when I looked out to see if she was waiting, she was laying in the grass, and just a couple of feet away, was ANOTHER cat, this one grey and white, maybe a B/F, but the two of them were just waiting for the first sign of life in the house. When I went after the dish, the second one took off, but a couple of minutes later, when I brought the filled dish back, the extra cat was hovering out by the fence, watching the proceedings. (And probably wondering if the feeding dishes only came in singles!) One is enough, cats, that is, but it will be interesting to see if the second one shows up again, even if I did find today the Wal-Mart has the canned food for half what I had paid at the local drug store.