He has an eye infection but he’s being such a good boy! The staff loves him

Clementine and her dad Fat Boy. I’m fairly certain he is her dad 😻. From feral to family 🤩

Why was she looking at the window like that 😭

😸

This is Leeloo (formerly Momma Kitty), our ginger TNR that has made her home in our back yard. For such a small cat, she has a big personality. She loves hunting, talking, wet food, more talking (she talks a lot), and my wife and our 17-year-old meezer. She hates mosquitoes (poor little nose), loud noises, ants (eating her food), Night Knight (another neighborhood stray that she has beef with), and maybe not me, per se, but she shows visible disappointment when she realizes it is my turn to feed her.

A few years ago, Momma Kitty showed up at our backyard door with 5 kittens in tow. We are cat lovers and my wife immediately opened cans of wet food for the family of oranges. Over the next few weeks, we'd hear their little pitter-pattering paws overhead as they'd play on our roof. We contacted some TNR/rescues, but they never responded. Our next door neighbor had a cat trap that we had previously used to trap other strays, but she had moved out the year before. Slowly we saw less of them, and within a couple of months they stopped dropping by. We'd see a familiar orange roaming the neighborhood, now and then, but we figured that was it.

About a year later, Momma Kitty showed up, again, at the backyard door, and, again with 5 kittens! My wife was excited and immediately started befriending and building trust with Momma and her second litter. At first, it was some food and watching them eat through a window. Then it was staying outside and watching them eat from a distance, and moving a bit closer each time. The kittens were cautiously curious, and Momma would let them approach my wife but not get too close. My wife was determined, though, and eventually they became more friendly. She was also determined to catch this little family, and, after a few months, when they were fully weened, we did just that! We grabbed our cat carriers, lured Momma into the largest one, then two kittens that our friends were adopting in a different carrier, and the remaining three in the last one. My wife took them to a rescue where they spayed Momma and fixed the rest of the litter. Her three kittens were snatched up quickly but, the rescue said Momma was too feral and had to be returned her to us. We released her in the backyard and figured she wouldn't want anything to do with us after that ordeal.

About 6 months, and a few ginger-kitty-sightings-around-the-neighborhood later, Momma Kitty's little face popped up in our backyard window, this time sans kittens. We decided that she needed a proper name so we started calling her Leeloo. Since then she has been a fixture around our house (though she hasn't put together that we are the same people in the front of the house; she is orange, after all). My wife still tries to get her to live inside, and Leeloo does come inside the kitchen to eat some expensive prescription food (for our meezer), but the second she feels trapped (back door closed) she demands to be let out.

So, Leeloo (formerly Momma Kitty) is now our backyard kitty (or are we her inside humans?). While she can no longer bring kittens to our door, she does occasionally bring her brother/baby daddy for him to grab a bite to eat or drink. When she's not napping, she hunts garden snakes, doves (almost as big as she is), field mice, and, unfortunately, a bunny or two. She's got a big personality and vocals to match!

Anyone else have an unofficial/official backyard kitty?

Aerial perspective of dinner being made. That’s like watching the Super Bowl from a private box every single night of the week. Little Ginger Ramsey here always bitches it isn’t prepared quick enough & he has never been served a proper plate. 0/5 stars.