Friendship or Mating? Watching Over #Feral #Cats, Part 3

Guinevere

One evening, a change happened between the three feral cats that we're watching over. Catch up with Feral Cat blogs.

We thought the Smith diner for feral cats was closed for the evening. We thought Lance had left and Romeo had come and gone. But then...

I happened to look out the window as darkness was falling.  I called my husband over and the next fifteen minutes were amazing, an absolute study on how two cats relate.  By the way, I'm no expert on any of this behavior. For the past forty years, I've had inside cats. But we're learning.

Feral Cat house with upper loft for dryness and warmth. For now, Lance lays on top! I put catnip at both entrances.

Lance was on the patio at the feeder again.  This beautiful gray and white cat who we'd only glimpsed before cautiously approached the edge of the patio.  Lance saw her and froze.  She froze, too.  They stood that way for a long time.  Then very slowly, Guinevere (which is the name we dubbed her) slowly turned her head away from Lance.  He turned his head away from her.  They stayed in that position like the proverbial statues.

Lance

Even more cautiously...so very slowly...Guinevere lifted one paw at a time in slow motion. Lance remained still.  But then he turned toward her.  At this point they were about three feet apart.  They made some low meow noises, one almost answering the other and once again revolved their heads away from each other.  After a long pause, ever so cautiously, Guinevere took one step at a time toward Lance, approaching closer and closer.  It was like a choreographed dance.  (Again, I have no experience at this but this looked more like a getting-to-know-you session than a mating ritual.)

The reason we came to that conclusion is because of what happened next.  Guinevere slowly and gently brushed her cheek against Lance's--the one that had been injured.

Then Guinevere walked away from him, still in slow motion.  He watched her as she climbed on top of the feral feeder and crouched down.  Lance lay down, too.  They must have watched each other that way for another five mintues.  Afterward with great care, precision, and dexterity, Guinevere stole off the feeder onto the patio once more and headed for the dry food feeder about two feet away from the feral feeder.  Every few inches, she stopped and waited.  He laid on his side and watched.

(Keep in mind, Lance chases Romeo away when he sees him at the feeder.)

As Lance watched, the gray and white beauty dipped into the feeder and he let her.  She ate and left.

The continuing saga of Lance, Guinevere, and Romeo next week!

Romeo

My sleuth, Caprice, in my Caprice De Luca mystery series rescues stray animals. My love of cats and dogs shines through in STAGED TO DEATH, the first book in the series available for Preorder now.

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