Tupac was hurt and struggled to survive for so long with no home. When Ron and I first met him and the other cat he was barely hanging on. I was getting up at 2 or 3 am and feeding them both them. They were ravenous. They got so little food they scarfed down what they could get. The female was feral, but Tupac had been an inside cat and slowly moved into being inside. During the hurricane Ian James got Tupac in and he stayed inside, but she did not. We don’t know what happened to her, but Ron adopted Tupac then, renamed him and we paid for his vet bills. And both Ron and I let the neighborhood know he was now our cat and anything dealing with him needed to go through us. The costs have been a lot, but he has filled out, he has been given back a chance at life, and he loves us so. And even though I keep telling everyone he is Ron’s cat I am the one that dotes on him and who he snuggles with in the bed at night. But make no mistake, Ron wanted him, Ron insisted, Ron named him, he is Ron’s cat. Who just happens to lie purring quietly on my arm in the bed at night. But he still wakes up at between 3 and 4 and cries out to me for food. You can guess what I do. When I get back to bed Ron is he had been awakened will say , I would have done that if you wanted. But he can sleep through Tupac’s cries for food and I cannot. So I do it. Hugs
Scottie's Playtime 
Ollie’s little clock is extremely fine-tuned. He got acclimated to my eating schedule early on. But these two days, he keeps looking at me, like, “yeah, I’ll eat, I like to eat, but it’s not time to eat. Then he sniffs around a bit a little later, unless I pay attention to the time, and distract him. He knows this isn’t right, but he’ll probably be adjusted before I am.
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Hi Ali. They are amazing are they not? Tupac quickly adjusted to not being out at dark and I think he is happier that he doesn’t have to be out at night. He has a need to eat frequently and I understand that. He is like me, we both went hungry too long to forget it. It is why when I shop alone I over buy untill the cupboards, freezer, and fridge are over filled. When I cook there are always too many left overs. Last night I fried two full bags of french fries. I cooked the second even though we did not eat all the first bag leaving a third to half as left overs. But Ron gently restrained me when having already cooked two more patties than needed I was going to cook four more. He reminded me we did not need them, and we had plenty of food to eat up. I don’t even realize I am doing it, I just do it. Tupac wants a half can of gravy lovers fancy feast about every two to three hours, and at night I give him a full can before bed or if he wakes me around 3 am. Hugs.
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Sounds like he owns you, Scottie. Our high count time was 9 at once, and it did get a bit crowded at bedtime, but they managed to let us in, so that was okay. And we never mind a bit, do we. A cat who has repeatedly gone hungry never quite gets over that. I had one here who had been a ‘condo” cat, no home, just a stray, When he was hungry here, he would whack the top off the kibble jar, and climb inside. It was subtle, but I got the message.
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I have also had two cats who , I swear to god, could tell time. Every morning at 4 AM (my husband needed to get up at (4:30) My little black manx Scooter would sit outside the bedroom door and pluck at it, PLUCK PLUCK until I got up. He only missed once, not accounting for daylight savings time, and the look on his face when I opened the door and said “WHAT” at 3:00 was priceless.
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Hi Judy. That is a grand story, thank you for sharing it with me. Tupac normally needs to feed at 3 or 4 in the morning. I normally get up to feed him as Ron normally sleeps through the cries. Tupac has a water bowl down and it is checked before bed, but he preferes a slow stream of water from the tap and will cry while sitting on the kitchen counter by the sink until one of us gets up to turn it on for him. Hugs
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Hi Judy. We had two at once and that was a handful as they were jealous of my time with each of them. I had two towels on my desk, one on each side so they each could be as close to me as possible. But I remember bought a large bag of kibble for the outside cats that we were feeding before we adopted Tupac. While we were gone one of the cats chewed / clawed a hole in the bag and ate a bunch. After that we we tried to feed it to the two inside cats and neither would eat it. Shortly after that Milo was taken by kidney cysts; he lived for 12 years and the vet said that was very long for a cat born with them, they normally live only 7 to 8 years at most. So after he died we started bringing Tupac in and letting him interact with the surviving cat we had left. We took Tupac to the vet first to make sure he had nothing the other cat would catch. Then the hurricane and the other outside cat disappeared. So Tupac became an inside cat mostly and outside for a little bit during the day. Hugs
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My wife is able to ignore Frankie’s meows regardless of whether it’s day or night. I can’t – ever. He has a has a habit of refusing to use the cat door if he knows I’m nearby and can hear him. He’ll sit and meow until I finally relent. I’ve tried making it a test of wills, but but his will is definitely the stronger. He’s perfectly capable of using the cat door, but has decided having his personal doorman is preferable. Oddly, but thankfully, he has decided from around midnight to 5 am is my time off door duty. It’s not that he doesn’t use it during that time – it’s quite noisy as it closes so I often hear it close as he passes though it during that period.
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Hi Barry. I read that a cat’s cries have evolved to match the frequencies of a baby’s cries so humans respond to them protectively. Ron never seems to hear Tupac, especially at night when he normally sleeps through it. He never hears if Tupac throws up. Both wake me instantly. Tupac will walk up to Ron’s chair to get Ron’s attention and Ron won’t notice. Which is why Tupac will now come to me for anything he wants, because I notice him when he comes into my office or up to me in the house. How do you keep other critters or cats from using the cat door? Tupac doesn’t want out at night thankfully but we have raccoons, possums, armadillos, and other cats that I am afraid would wander in if we had a cat door. Cat’s do enjoy having servants don’t they? The old saying is dogs have human friends, cats have human staff. Best wishes.
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How do you keep other critters or cats from using the cat door?. This is NZ, not the Americas. There are no native land mammals – only introduced species such as mice, rats, cats, dogs, stoats and the Australian bushy tailed possum. The first two tend to find their own way in without the aid of a cat door. Dogs re usually too large and aren’t allowed to wander at night. Possums could but are more likely to use an open window, and stoats keep well away from human habitation. That leaves cats, and while there have been a few intrusions at night, they stopped once we moved frankie’s kibble to our upstairs bedroom at night. Frankie refuses to eat anything but kibble – even fancy cat treats – unless it’s “on the hoof”. Mice, rats, birds, skinks, frogs, large insects are all on his radar. Unfortunately he likes to bring and show them to us, dead or alive. The wife really does not appreciate that.
Frankie is micro-chipped, so we will be getting a door with a micro-chip reader as soon as finances allow. Frankie refuses to use a litter box no matter what type of litter we use, so he needs to be able to go in and out of the house whenever nature calls.
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I had one cat who was a mousing genius. He was wary of us, but started a campaign to free the house of mice. Every morning my husband would find what was left of a dead mouse on the floor on his side of the bed. In all, 27 mice in 26 days. I met him one afternoon coming up the stairs with a dead mouse, and the look of triumph was stunning…
A thought: if you could find a spot that he uses for his duties, maybe shovel a small but significant bit of that into a litter tray, along with dry litter. It worked for me, (or rather one of my cats) and I never had to worry about him again at night.
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I’ve tried that trick – even using all “natural litter” all to no avail. Our property is mostly natural – trees and shrubs with leaf litter underneath and he can access places I can’t. He really doesn’t have a preferred spot – so long as it’s not indoors.
It wouldn’t be so bad if Frankie only presented us with critters captured inside, but he brings everything he catches from outside, dead or alive, for us to admire. After first adopting us, he’d often bring us 5 or 6 mice per day. Now it’s down to around 5 mice per week, with the occasional bird, skink, rat, frog or large insect for variety.
Frankie was semi-feral for several years before he adopted us. He took to sleeping on a chair on our sheltered front porch at night and that is still his preferred sleeping place. He had an owner but would turn up there very infrequently – less than once a week – for food. It was a very noisy household with 3 preteen kids, two dogs, goats and a cat that bullied him. We only discovered his background after we decided to care for him and took him to the vet for a checkup. His microchip lead to the discovery of his history, and the original owners were grateful and relieved that he had found a home that he liked.
He still prefers the outdoors and that is where he spends most of his time. He tends to sleep indoors only when he can’t find suitable shelter from the elements.
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I’d say he’s an independent cuss, and that’s the level he is at. I love the image of ‘large insect” and really don’t want to know. he’s his own cat, he trusts you, and that in itself is gold.
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Hi Barry. That is grand that they make a door with a chip reader. Here we would have raccoons coming in. I did not know what a stoat was so looked it up. The images and short videos make them look so cute and fun. I guess they are a ferret or weasle realted critter. Tupac brought a live rabbit he caught and wanted to bring it in. He was so upset with me that I refused to open the door for him. Then the other cat took the rabbit from him and ate it. We keep him so well fed he doesn’t even try to catch other critters. Best wishes.
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There is that about cats, isn’t it. Over time I’ve had 24, and we’re down to our last, I suspect. Some have been disasters (no one is perfect, not even cats), and some have been wild successes. We loved them all. How can you not. That’s a great photo. btw.
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Hi Judy. I understand. Ron and I have loved every cat and dog we have rescued. However we also decided that Tupac will be our last also. We fear at our age and health we will die leaving the cat homeless or we will become unable to care for or afford to care for the cat. It is sad and we know we will miss the love from them, but we have to be adults about it. Hugs
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