We have a rental cat!

Jim has long been of the opinion that hotels and rental houses ought to offer rental cats. So that you don't get so lonely when you are travelling and missing the company of your own cats. This trip, Jim hatched a devious scheme to lure neighborhood cats to our house. I humored him, hoping it would work, but having serious doubts. Jim bought a box of "Brekkies" cat food (actually we are now on our second box) and put a small bowl of them outside our front door every day. They always disappeared, but a month went by and we never even caught a glimpse of the responsible party. Then one day when I was coming back to the house in the late afternoon, a little cat peered out at me curiously from under a bush in our garden. I called to her and she followed me to the front door, where I poured out some Brekkies for her. She ate them appreciatively but was sort of shy and wouldn't let me pet her. Then a few days later, I was talking to Frau Luise, our neighbor, who seemed to be on good terms with the little cat. She said she didn't know her name, but simply called her "Mausi." She seems to answer to Mausi. Then one day I opened the front door, also in the late afternoon, and called "Mausi!" She came running to the front door from the bushes. She got some Brekkies and this time she let me pet her.


Today we made another big step forward in our relationship. Mausi seems to have become quite comfortable with us. Today she spent some time sniffing around in the house and generally checking everything out. When we came back in the late afternoon, she heard us and jumped up at the front door, meowing to be let in. Here are the photos of Mausi enjoying our company today. Jim had fun playing with her. She jumped up on the couch and made herself comfortable while I was reading. As you can see, we had to add another place for her at dinner. She has agreed to be our rental cat.