Apr. 20, 2009 Monday
The lady next door has four cats and three dogs. The dogs are terriers that run around their fenced-in back yard. Two of the cats are kittens and remain in the house. The other two felines are free-roaming adults.One of them is Skittles, an all-white part Persian tomcat. A very handsome animal and very aloof. Every morning he comes up on our deck and sits himself down in front of the sliding glass door.
Hunky has gotten into the habit of waiting for him after breakfast. The two of them will sit nose-to-nose with a pane of glass between them and carry on a non-verbal conversation. There is no animosity, no posturing. Just a quiet face-to-face, each observing the other, gleaning familiarity.
I'm a bit less accepting. I'll hiss at him and paw at the glass and generally make my displeasure known. But he shows no emotion. He and Hunky just stare at each other with cat-like intensity.
This has been going on for quite a while. Neither the Husband nor the Wife had taken note of his presence until recently. The Husband tried going out to make friends, but Skittles would have no part of humans not from his own house. The Husband tried several more times to extend the hand of friendship, but Skittles just retreated to the top of the deck stairs.
The Husband can carry on a conversation with him, and he will listen, as long as the Husband maintains his distance. On one of these occasions, Hunky got out through the partially opened door and bounded happily toward Skittles, ears and tail up in a friendly gesture. Skittles had folded back his ears and tucked in his tail. But Hunky was so amazed at being outdoors that he ignored Skittles and looked out over the yard instead. Skittles was confused.
The Husband clapped his hands together and Hunky dashed back inside as Skittles departed down the stairs. End of confrontation.
Being a female feline, I tend to be more territorial. Maybe I'm reading Skittles wrong. Maybe he's just exhibiting the natural feline curiosity. Maybe he just wants to make friends.
Maybe the Husband will leave the door open a little too long one morning and I'll get a chance to find out for myself.