The Taming of the Stray
By Kathryn G. Yen
"Mom, Mom! Look at the little kittens outside!"
A few years ago, those were the words my younger sister and I were calling to our mom, as we watched four or five tiny stray kittens tumbling around in the grass in our neighbor's yard. From there, it seemed that more and more kittens kept appearing, and we didn't have any way to stop the increase! The mother of the cute little kittens we were observing was black and white, and we called her "Mama", as she was the one who seemed to be doing the bulk of the multiplying! Now, years later, we haven't seen Mama around very much, but we have seen one of those kittens of hers.
At first this beautiful black cat was very skittish of us, and, just to see what would happen, we began putting out little paper plates of cat food. Several times we saw her eating the food, and though at the beginning she would run away if she saw us in the window, soon she grew used to having us (and our indoor cats!) peering at her through the window. Then we started to move the dishes of food closer and closer to our back door. Once again, as soon as the bowl was right in front of the door, and she could see us, she would back away, but generally come right back to finish her meal.
After a short while, we were able to sit by the door while she ate without disturbing her. By this time, she had begun to come regularly every morning, at around eight o'clock a.m., for her breakfast. It was then we decided it was time we had a name to call her, besides "black kitty". We came to the conclusion that "Breakfast" was very fitting, and Breakfast she has been ever since!
Not long after this, Breakfast was comfortable enough with us to allow us to open the door and reach out our hand towards her (not too far, of course). She would even sniff our fingertips occasionally. Then one day we thought we would try giving her some plain yogurt on our finger. I was the first to try it, and she sucked it down eagerly, seeming only a little cautious about licking the yogurt off my finger. Soon she didn't mind if we came outside and fed yogurt to her. Once I tried a small piece of cheese, to see whether she would take it from my hand or not, and, I assure you, she did with a right good will!
Then we thought that since she was definitely beginning to trust us, we would venture to lightly stroke her. This we did when she was eating, and though she would start back, she never actually ran away.
One day, it happened. I was sitting outside with Breakfast, and reached out to try to pet her. To my surprise, she allowed me to pet her all the way from her head down her back! And added to the surprise was the fact that she loved it! She started rubbing her head on my hand and demanding more and more loving. This became a daily routine, and she would come by multiple times a day to be petted. Pretty soon we tried cautiously placing our hand under her front, to get her used to the feel of someone picking her up. She was not disturbed by this, and so we tried lifting her front ever so slightly. Now I am happy to say that she doesn't even care if we lift her entirely off the ground!
If you are hoping to tame a stray in your area, I encourage you to be very careful. All cats are different, and Breakfast had a loving temperament. The stray you hope to tame may not. Also keep in mind that strays are strays, which generally means that they have nice long, sharp claws! Be sure to remember to exercise caution.
Breakfast is such a sweet cat, and continues to delight us day after day!
Kathryn G. Yen is the eldest daughter of David and Annette Yen. She resides with her younger sister Tara, as well as three very cute cats. Kathryn is the author of the children's book, A Tale of Tails.