By Adam Stewart
From the Newsroom
Our outdoor cat, Pumpkin, has been anti-social where other cats are concerned, ever since we adopted her when her original family moved out of town and couldn’t take her.
She is fiercely protective of her territory—our yard, garage and porch—even against larger cats. We have brought her inside the past couple of summers to get out of the worst heat, but she is aggressive toward Minnie, our indoor cat, so we have had to sort of quarantine her in Michelle’s office.
This fall has been especially fraught with conflicts for Pumpkin. In place of neighborhood cats who Pumpkin sometimes would have to pointedly tell to go away and stay away, there seem to be two new cats who won’t respect the “stay away” part. Both are bigger than Pumpkin, although their long, fluffy fur obscures how much larger they are.
The larger of the two, a dark gray cat, is the bolder of the two. It seems to actively want to confront Pumpkin and doesn’t care when Michelle and I try to chase it off. Maybe two weeks ago, we heard sounds of a feline confrontation outside. When we hurried out to separate them, we found Pumpkin cornered by the dark gray cat. We separated them, but the gray cat continued to hang out in our neighbors’ yard. For her part, Pumpkin wasn’t in a rush to leave the gray cat alone, either.
Fortunately, it seems their confrontations have been limited to verbal fights and some posturing. Pumpkin hasn’t had any injuries, and I haven’t seen anything to suggest the gray cat has, either.
The other new, persistent visitor is a pale orange cat with a white face and belly—Michelle has called it a “creamsicle” coat. It doesn’t seem as pushy as the gray cat, but it isn’t afraid of going anywhere. A few weeks ago, I saw that it slipped inside the entrance at the hardware store nearby. And earlier this week, it was so bold that it was waiting around the garage when Michelle fed Pumpkin dinner, seemingly expecting its own helping of kibble—despite wearing a collar that indicates it is somebody else’s cat.
So far, Pumpkin has seemed to mostly tolerate the creamsicle cat, however begrudgingly. We often find them near each other, and at most, Pumpkin has hissed or made a low growl when the other cat got too close. Yesterday, Michelle texted me that Pumpkin was present and didn’t object when the creamsicle cat ate some of her supper. Pumpkin was more concerned about something she may have heard at the garage entrance.
The food is probably a bigger deal, but this morning, as I was leaving for work, I found Pumpkin and the creamsicle cat together in the garage. They were just a few feet apart, Pumpkin lying on her favorite camp chair and the other cat perched on the shelves. And for once, Pumpkin seemed relaxed in another cat’s presence.
It may be a bit early to call them best friends, but the creamsicle cat certainly seems to be the cat whose existence bothers Pumpkin the least.
Adam Stewart is the assistant news editor of The Hutchinson Tribune. He can be reached at adam@hutchtribune.com.