This sweet little kitty showed up on my back step sometime in November 2022.  She looked like death was imminent.  I never saw a cat so skin and bones, and I thought she was an old cat ready to die.  She drank from a saucer of water from the rain the night before.  I decided to buy some food that night and put it out for her.  She returned a couple of days later and ate the food I left… She’s been returning every day, ever since.  I named her Marley as at the time I didn’t know if she was a boy or a girl kitty.  Marley seemed to be a unisex name as I searched through a long list of animal names.

She became a regular at my back door.  Oscar and Buttercup were not happy about the backyard addition.  When Christmas passed, I was unsure what to do, since she had started to fill out… plumped up from my feeding her.  She didn’t look like an old cat dying anymore.

I got connected with a neighbor in January 2023 that coordinates the TNR program in my community.  She helped me with a trap, and explained how to use it.  My neighbor has a standing appointment for the TNR program every Thursday.

On the next Wednesday, I didn’t feed her until much later in the day.  I hated to trick her into the cage with the food… but I knew I had to.  Marley circled the cage, looked in and sized up the situation.  She tried to get the food from the outside of the cage… but finally she gave in 10 minutes into it.

When I saw that she was in the cage, I quickly picked up the cage and started talking to her while I headed to my car and to my neighbor’s house.  Marley’s eyes were big as saucers.  I looked into those eyes and told her she was going to be alright.  I explained in human terms that she was going to be taken care of and returned to me in a couple of days.  She trusted me.

That Friday afternoon I picked up Marley.  She was still a bit groggy, but bolted out of that cage as soon as I opened it.  She was back on my step the next morning waiting to be fed.

It’s almost June now on the Central Coast of Florida, and Marley continues to be waiting for me every morning.  My concern is the upcoming hurricane season and how Marley will fare in the wild during one of our hellacious storms… so I’ve arranged for a kitty door into my garage… I’ll start moving her food toward that door and show her how she can be inside, protected, fed and secure during our hurricane season or, anytime she wants to be out of the elements.

I’m so glad she picked me to take care of her.  Oscar and Buttercup have calmed down over her.  And, when I travel, my pet sitter continues to feed Marley.

Now I’m working on a sequel to my book The Secret Staircase and Marley will be included as one of the felines that goes in search of another staircase.  Stay tuned!  And Welcome Marley to ThankGodiMaFeline!