Just what I need...

This afternoon, I saw this hanging out in the backyard like he owns the place.

For those of you who do not have cats, let me explain how this works. YOU do not find homeless cats, they find you. They have some kind of mysterious car radar, or maybe there is a giant neon CAT VACANCY sign above your place that only cats can see. Either way, they can and do find you.

This young un-nutted male cat is totally unafraid of the dogs that inhabit the backyard. He does arch up at them, but that is about it. He does not run from them, or even swat at them when they walk up to give the new mystery cat a sniff.

My three cats have mixed feelings about the new cat. Fred HATES the new cat, but he is too much of a chicken to go in the backyard and defend his turf. The girl cats seem to be ignoring the new cat.

The new cat is very friendly. He will let me pet him, and he does not run away from people.

I made the classic MISTAKE of feeding the mystery cat. If he is homeless, he thinks he has a home now. If he belongs to one of the neighbors, he will go home and just return for occasional visits.

The new cat is very skinny for a young un-nutted male cat, but he did not seem to be very hungry. He seems to be in good health, but it would not shock me if he has worms.

So, I will be keeping an eye on the mystery cat. If he hangs out here more often, or seems to not be taken care of....well I guess I will have a new cat.

Which is EXACTLY what I need. Or not.