We are slowly introducing our three housecats to Mr Surly and it has been easy for the most part. We sneak Mr Surly in at night and he goes to his blanket on the couch. I go into the bedroom with Binky and the Omnikat. Puss Puss, Sean (husband, not cat) and Mr Surly stay in the living room. In the morning I clean out Surly’s bowl and gather up his blanket, destroying evidence of his stay so Binky doesn’t get suspicious. Binky is our top cat. He’s tiny and a bit cynical – certainly cautious and suspicious.
Lately Mr Surly is a little more nervous than usual because of the severe thunderstorms and lightening we get most nights. When he is inside and the noise starts, he panics and wants out really badly. We hesitate because bad things can happen to cats in a heavy storm. I spoke to Kitty (her real name) at the SPCA and she told me that they found cat skeletons all over the lower Florida keys after Wilma. Many feral and abandoned cats drowned in the storm surge. They even found remains the small trees. Maybe Surly was caught in a flood at some point in his young life.
Anyhow, he has become a rather fat porch cat, happiest in the morning when he is outside or showing off climbing a tall palm like a lineman, getting to the top then looking down to see if I’m watching him. Mr Surly is very strong. He has bear claws thick and yellow and dog fur – as coarse as a German Shepherd’s and tough leather pads. When we bring him into the house he scares himself with the noise he makes on the wood floors. He is used to walking on pathways, grass, earth and has Doc Marten soles. 
Nowadays, Mr Surly purrs like the young warrior he is. I have nothing but respect for this big boy.
