Look what Rooster just found on his doorstep!

Another poor, hungry stray cat,

begging us for help. 

Look how thin she is!  And boy, was she cold, hungry and thirsty!  Once the lakes freeze over here, it's hard for animals to find water.

I just found her half an hour ago, out on the back porch crying so pitifully.  I thought at first my kitten Tina had gotten out because she is a tri-colored tortoise-shell color like that, but when I looked closer, the markings were different and this cat is much bigger.

The strange thing is, she seems to know my other cats and dogs. The dogs did not bark at her and she actually rubbed against them.  She's not afraid of the dogs at all!  My three kittens hissed because they have never been outside to meet her, but the other cats don't seem to mind her being in the house.

My guess is, she's been living off the land around here for a while, and knows my animals.  But now that there's snow on the ground, there are fewer accessible rodents to catch and she's going hungry.   

She's welcome to stay if we don't find an owner -- There really aren't many animal shelters around here.  And who would adopt such a skinny stray?  I only hope she is not pregnant!   

UPDATE January 28, 2007:  My wife named her Chayah (pronounced KHAI-uh) which means "living one" in Hebrew.  (It doesn't translate so well -- it's a common Jewish woman's name.)  Since she was so starved and cold, we gave her a new name affirming LIFE for healing.  (Also an old Jewish tradition.)  Yes, we will look for an owner, but meanwhile we have to call her something besides "that cat..." 

Chayah, it turns out, was in heat when we found her.  ARGHH!!!!  I do not need more kittens here!   It's early for that normally but the weather was so warm, it must have fooled her body into thinking it was spring.    Luckily we got Patches neutered in Dec, and little Tippy is too young to breed.  All our other males are also neutered.  She seems to be out of it now. and hopefully she did not find a fertile tomcat before she found us.  Oh well, time will tell...

UPDATE:  Chayah, the starving stray kitty I took in last week, is doing fine! It's amazing what some good food and shelter will do. Here she is, making herself at home in the living room and, as you can see, she is already putting on some weight.   She's getting along fine with the rest of my animals, too -- and shows absolutely NO interest in going outside. This cat knows she has found a nice WARM loving home and she's going to stay put!

No sign of an owner.  We'll keep looking, but it looks like she will be staying permanently.  If so, she gets spayed -- so I guess it's time to sell more of those souvenir feathers to raise the money for that.  (You can buy them under "Help Animals" in my store.   Get a quick positive feedback, too!)