One late summer day, an unfamiliar, skinny, affectionate tabby cat showed up at our house. Several of the family sitting outside, began calling to him. When they called, “Arnold,” he came running. Over time, we discovered he liked to be around people and Ellie.
Because he was was hungry and skinny, we began feeding him some of Ellie’s dog food, but he had a hard time chewing it. Before long, I bought a bag of cat food, and I started feeding him on the front porch.
Soon I was quite attached to him, and the family started calling him my cat. We were concerned about his health—fleas, worms, ear mites—and our grandchildren, who liked to pet him. So Steve encouraged me (what a sweet husband since I was concerned about spending money on a stray cat) to take him to the vet for shots and medications.
Now he lives in our garage at night, and comes and goes during the day. I sit with him for a few minutes in the morning while he eats before Steve and I go for our walk. In the evening, when he eats, I will be out there if I can, reading a book. If I stay around, he usually sits on my lap purring for a while.
Many in the family like the little fellow and will go out to the garage to see if he is there. Now that is it getting colder, he spends more time in the garage, making it his domain.
We don’t know where Arnold came from although we asked around the neighborhood. Arnold now has a home, and I have a cat.
Trusting in Jesus,
Teri
PS – Ellie and Arnold below!
“A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast:
but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.”
(Proverbs 12:10)
Every home is made better by a cat! <3
I love it! Thanks for sharing!!!!!
Awww what a handsome cat!
Please make sure you get him desexed though, if he isn’t already. Apart from stopping him from fathering 100s of kittens, it’ll make him better behaved and reduce the risk of him getting sick or injured by fighting other cats.
Yes, the vet took care of that as well.
I love cats. Our neighbor gave us a little grey kitten a couple years ago, which I named “Gus.” He Is now a big, beautiful grey cat with white tipped paws, and olive green eyes. Within the last year another cat (an orange tabby) showed up on our door step, and has stayed ever since! His name is “Rusty.” He is sweet and affectionate, and brings joy to our family too!
Enjoyed seeing the pictures of your cat, “Arnold.” he looks like a sweet cat. 🙂
Sounds like you are enjoying your kitties too!
I’m so glad you gave Arnold a home! He’s a handsome fellow. We had a similar experience…multiplied by seven though!! I have fed and provided outdoor shelter for seven feral cats for the last nine years. We have names for each of them, and all have been spayed/neutered and had their left ear ‘tipped’ (an indication to animal control that someone is looking after them). I can only pet one of them though as they are truly feral…not friendly!
There are so many homeless cats out there! I’m very happy Arnold found you…and his forever home.
~Trish
Wow, you have quite a little group of cats that you have taken under your wing to care for when only one will let you pet him.
Good for you
What a cute cat! So glad that he has a good home with you all. He and Ellie look like best buddies!
Oh my goodness. You guys have a cat now? Tabby ones are cute. My sister and a friend recently rescued a baby kitten from under our deck, but we had to take it to the rescue shelter because our family is terribly allergic to cats. The women at the shelter were gushing over her though when we brought her. That’s sweet that you have another pet.
It has surprised me a bit how much everyone in our family has been enjoying Arnold.
I hope you also had the vet check to see if he was neutered. If not, you can often find affordable/discounted spay and neuter clinics. It’s so important to keep the homeless animal population to a minimum!
Yes, we had Arnold neutered.
A cat showed up at our house unexpectedly this summer too! His name is Sammy. He was also very hungry. He lives in our yard and has made a sizable dent in the mouse/mole/chipmunk/lizard population.
Susan
I hope that dent is acceptable to you. Arnold is interested in those little critters too. Steve was pleased with the mole he had been trying to trap that Arnold caught. He’s earning his keep.
aww what a handsome boy! Cats are very smart, and it sounds like Arnold knew he found his true family when he saw you! It is also clear that Arnold is returning the love he receives 🙂 Congratulations!
He has definitely won a place in our hearts.
So glad you all gave Arnold a home. I just hate to see any animal living on the street scrounging for food in the trash. Arnold looks very tame so he has definitely been loved and cared for in the past.
I am allergic to cats so Storm never got to have one as a house pet. We live near a creek and had noticed mice. I wanted a cat but didn’t think it possible until I found out about the feral cat rescue here in our town. They trap the stray cats, usually at the city park, give them their shots and alters and clip their ear. Then they brought the cat to my back yard in a kennel for several days while Storm fed it. WOW! Was it wild. We were pretty scared of it’s hissing at first. After some days, they came back and let her loose. She now lives under our back porch, doing her job well. We make sure she has water and a bit of food. She keeps coming back! I was surprised. She has calmed down quite a bit but is still wild, no petting, but she has a home and we have no mice. WIN WIN!
So glad ya’ll love animals! We do too!
Wow, Johnna, that’s a great story. You are right – win, win. I hope Arnold takes care of the mole population in our yard.
I love cats! We have two currently. Arnold is a very beautiful- handsome cat. He is blessed to have you all and you are blessed to have this sweet boy.
I agree. I feel blessed we have Arnold, and I think he has it pretty good, too.
Aww isn’t he cute!
Last september two of my older sisters were working as bus aids. my sister was having a bad day and it was her birthday, when they got off the bus they heard mewing looking beneath a nearby bus they saw a kitten sitting in a half frozen puddle, with ice on it’s fur and whiskers they got it out before it could climb into the engine it was so tiny someone could hold her in the palm of their hand, they brought her home and she claimed my older sister, so we like to say that the Almighty saw that my sister was having a bad day and sent her a birthday present.
We do serve a great God Who cares about even the little details in our lives.
Oops! autocorrect got me it’s supposed to be december not september I don’t think we’d have frozen water in sep.
That was an encouraging story. Thank you for sharing.
Awww, he is adorable!! <3
What a sweet kitty! Bless you for taking care of him. We have a stray we took in about a year ago who looks a lot like Arnold, only female. My daughter named her Dixie. Love the picture, especially with Ellie!
Every cat in any of the books I read to my grandchildren is now Arnold. Even the tabby cat with the pink collar. Maybe we can start calling her Dixie when we look at that book!
That’s hilarious!
What a beautiful cat, and I’m so glad to hear you’re being responsible pet owners and you had him looked at and neutered by the vet. What a joy he must be to your grandchildren, too!
Oh yes. The grandchildren love Arnold.
Awwwwww. So cute. I’d love a pet cat, but unfortunately, nothing could be further from my dad’s wishes. 🙁 😉
Oh, I meant to add, it’s amazing Ellie and Arnold get along. Usually cats and dogs fight unless the dog was under 1 and the cat under 6 months when they were introduced. 🙂
Arnold is such a handsome kitty!! 🙂
I LOVE cats, and am happy you’ve got one in your family now.
Thank you for sharing these photos!
Oh yes, Patti, you do love cats, don’t you? I had forgotten. Now we have something else in common!