This is the story of Maxine the cat. Maxine was and still is a feral cat. Maxine roamed the area around our house for a couple of years and had a few litters of kittens in that time. Although I take care of several strays now, it was my daughter who, mostly, took care of the cats and kittens then. I will tell you that she spent quite a lot of time out there working with the kittens to tame them to a point where they could be handled and then she would find homes for them. She also had some help finding homes from a friend of the mine.
Now, Maxine would come up to eat but would never let us get close to her. We tried and tried but never succeeded in taming her. At this point we called in my friend to see if we could capture her to at least get her shots and “fixed”. My very good friend had a live trap and to our delight we captured Maxine. My friend decided that she would also try to work with Maxine so we could try to find her a home. My friend is a great animal lover and has worked with many animals in shelters and was confident that, with time, she could get Maxine to trust her. So after capturing Maxine with the live trap, she was off to the vet and got her shots and she was indeed “fixed”.
She then took Maxine home and released her in her house and the cat ran and hid in the basement. My friend was a bit concerned because she almost never saw Maxine but she was eating and drinking as her food and water needed replenishing every day and her litter box would need cleaning. The few times Maxine was seen it was in an old dollhouse that was in the basement. This routine went on for almost a year and my friend decided that Maxine should just stay with her as she did not think that Maxine would really ever trust a human and she had the run of the house although she never really ventured out of the basement.
So, this was how Maxine lived for a couple of years until one day the outside door was open and Maxine got out. My friend was very upset when she told me because she thought she had not only let Maxine down but me as well. I told her that was nonsense as she had done so much to help the cat and more than most people would ever do for such an animal. She also lives in a rural area which meant Maxine would probably be safer there. She continued putting out food and water which always disappeared so we were certain that at least she was eating even though she was never seen. My friend also left a little window open in the basement just in case Maxine decided to return to the old dollhouse which she was certainly welcome to do so. That is until this past week when my friend called me, very excitedly, to say that after almost an entire year that she had just seen Maxine. I guess there will come a day when the food remains uneaten but until then Maxine is living the way that she prefers…outside!
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