Stumpy and Mae West

Stumpy is who you might think he is. He's a cat with no tail. It was alarming the first time I saw him - I didn't have my glasses on and it was only half light. He was crying on my front porch and I opened the door to the glass door and saw his cat face. I thought at first it was Margeaux - outside! Then I saw Margeaux inside and went to get my glasses. I looked again and saw the most disturbing thing. The little cat had no tail. NONE. It is shocking to see a cat with no tail. He ran when I went around from the side of the house just to see him. We keep some cheap cat kibble (sorry - we can't feed all the cats in Moberly premium cat food) so I put some in a frisbee and sat it out. He still ran from me.

He kept coming around and eventually, Dee picked him up to take a good look at him. He's an intact (not neutered) male gray tabby (more gray than tabby). He's all love - writhing on the ground - constantly stretching his paws - with big claws. He wants to be held now. He's constantly yelling at us. I don't hold him because I'm a little shy about holding a stray outdoor cat. Daisy chaises him but he holds his own.

Mae West has been called "Laura Ingalls's sister", "Carrie Ingalls", "Susan" and now we've settled on Mae West. She does look like Laura Ingalls's sister. She has broken one of her front paws. She won't let us near her but she hides under the shed and eats the cat food we put out. We were going to catch her and put her in the basement to heal. She is elusive though.

Her paw seems to be healing and she is getting more relaxed. There is another unnamed cat - a long-tailed gray tabby. He comes around some too now - but he's very scared. These cats! I'll try to get pictures if they start coming closer.