Since moving into this house last August, we have been dealing with mouse problems. It’s an old ranch house; what can a person expect, right? Well, part of the reason it was so bad is probably due to the contents of the shed/garage outside. You see there are at least six massive seed sacks (the ones that require a skid steer to move them) filled with seed peas stored there.
In a field mouse’s opinion, I’m pretty sure we have the storehouse of all storehouses. π If that wouldn’t attract mice to our place I’m not sure what would. Thus, I think we could poison and trap as many mice in the house as we wanted, but they would keep being replaced by ones moving in from the shed. Unfortunately, we can’t locate their entry point.
A while ago, I had presented the idea to my husband of getting a cat to live out in the shed, but he adamantly refused to consider such an option. He was afraid I would turn it into a family pet. Not being a cat guy, he did not want to have to worry about taking care of a cat. I didn’t press that option too much after that. π
Several other people thought a cat was one of our best options too, and we were told to go catch one of the many cats running around the ranch in a live trap and bring it back to our shed (we live a couple miles away as the crow flies from the main ranch hub). Dean never really said anything about the idea though so I let it drop.
Thus, you can imagine my surprise the one day when he unexpectedly showed up and told me to come out to the truck because he had something he thought I might want to see. π Sure enough, peeping out from inside a live trap, was a very disgruntled orange tabby who looked as though she had not enjoyed her ride on the back of the pickup one bit.
Taking her into the shed, we released her and watched her quickly disappear into one of the innumerable hiding spots. For weeks after that I would only catch glimpses of her when I went out to replenish her food and water.
We were afraid she would take off and high-tail it back home if we didn’t lock her in at first, but now that she associates the shed with shelter and food, I leave the door cracked for her to come and go. Recently, I have been seeing more of her as she ventures out and about.
Just yesterday, I heard Latigo, our border collie, barking rather insistently at something outside. When I went to investigate, I found our little orange tabby sitting just outside the shed door staring him down. She knew her escape into the shed was just behind her and calmly sat watching this silly adolescent canine make a ruckus.
I still don’t know that she will ever let me lay a hand on her, but I decided that as close as she is sticking around here it is time to give her a name. No, this doesn’t make her a family pet; she is still very much a wild feline, but I think she still deserves a name, don’t you? π
SOOOO I was wondering if I could get some name suggestions from you guys? If you think of any good ideas, comment them below. In a week or so, I’ll narrow the options down to two names and then have you vote for the Orange Tabby’s official title! π
–Amanda
P.S. I’m not honestly sure if the orange tabby is a girl or a boy at this point, but for the sake of naming it, I’m going to say it’s a girl. π
10 Comments
We have an unnamed outdoor kitty as well, fondly called kitty kitty. Iβm rather boring with names so I would probably stick with calling your kitty Tabby myself. π
I always said if I had an orange cat I would name it Tang. So βTangβ is my choice. πΈ
In my opinion, you really need to know it’s a girl before you give it an explicitly feminine name, so you’ll find a variety of options below. In no particular order…
-Smirky
-Tabitha (along with the accompanying shortened forms: Tab, Tabs, Tabby)
– Celia
-Po
-Kachunk
-Miriam
Wild Fire or El Gato π
Butter. . . and if/when you determine the sex of the cat, She could become Butter Girl OR He could become Butter Boy π
Tabster is Nathan’s idea.
What a beautiful cat! Is she as big as she looks? I vote Moses. TD’s kitty came to mind. Plus this kitty had to travel to new places with a mission. π
Oh – how about a name to coordinate with Latigo? How about Cheeto?!
Mandy, heard the neatest cat name today: Killmouski. Isn’t that great.
I love it!! It definitely has got a ring to it! π