Our Cat Misa

Yes I did say our cat Misa .... now what are we doing with a cat you say..... well here is the story.

When we moved into the house we found a bag of cat food and a dish on the front porch. Of course we had no plans for a cat so we got rid of the items.

Then after talking with the neighbors we learned that there was a cat that came with the house. She is a grey cat named Misa. They aren't sure how old she is but we are the 4th family to live here since she arrived. Of course we still weren't adopting the cat since Dyna wasn't ready to share her new yard with anyone, including a cat or a chicken.

So the months went on and we would see Misa in the yard or up on the porch. The minute Dyna would see Misa she would chase her out of the yard so Misa never stayed long. Then came Hurricane Ike and things began to change. Ike visited us in Sept and when the storm was passing by the Keys. We found Misa on our porch in the middle of the storm refusing to leave. Of course we felt bad about leaving her out in the rain and wind but didn't want to bring her in since we weren't sure if she was clean, had fleas or anything else. The trade off was to come up with a shelter on the porch we set up a place where she could get out of the storm and a towel to lay on. Then of course we didn't have any food. Usually she would be fed by the neighborhood lady, Linda, who put food out for all the of the stray cats at the house next to ours since it is empty. During the storm Linda would not be out to do the usual feeding. Not wanting Misa to go hungry I went to our neighbors who have a cat of their own. I knew they would have food. So out I go in in the wind and rain (OK it is only 20 feet from our front door to theirs) to borrow some food. The cat was fed and that was the beginning Our Cat Misa.

From then on Misa decided it was OK to hang out on the porch. Over the past 2 months Misa and Dyna have gotten to be friends. Then Linda decided to move across town and there wasn't anyone to feed Misa. So we bought a dish and some food and moved on to the next stage of ownership. Once that started Misa moved permanently into the yard. She could be found at anytime of day laying in the yard or on the porch in front of the door. It was quite a hoot when she would lay in front of the door since we have a screen door with a doggy door in it so Dyna can come and go when the weather is nice. Misa ruled the doorway since Dyna didn't have the guts to go over her to get in the door. Dyna would sit on the porch and whine until one of us would open the door, which would move the cat and let her in.

Then we started to joke about Misa being smart enough to get through the doggie door..... of course that is just what happened. Over the past few weeks Misa started with poking her head in the doggie door which we knew would lead to just one thing.... sooner or later Misa would be in the house. After a week of that Misa got the guts to come through the door one evening about a week ago. We were watching TV and here comes Misa wandering around the living room. She was pretty skittish and didn't stay long even though she did the same thing a few more nights.

On Saturday morning we were up having coffee when Misa waltzed in, got up on the dining room chair and napped. That is the picture above. She slept so hard we could hear her snore!!!!

So now anytime we leave the door open Misa will come on in, find a cozy place and nap away. She even had the guts to nap on Dyna's dog bed today. Dyna just laid there and looked at her, not sure what to do!

Of course we are still concerned about fleas and stuff so Tom put a flea treatment on her today and it looks like Our Cat Misa is here to stay!