All I want is a room somewhere, far away from the cold night air.....

  With one enormous chair

Oh! Wouldn't it be lover-ly" (A.Lerner, F. Lowe, 1956)

Street cats.  The big worry bringing cats in from the street, at least for me, has always been, "How will they adjust to life as house cats?"  Are they too feral?  Do they have the wanderlust?  One always has to wonder.

It was clear that Mamma Grigia and Inky could not possibly tolerate life indoors.  Freaking banshees they were!!!!  Gave us a scare or two!!!

But...Scruffy literally slept for a week.  All the others seemed just delighted.  You have to read them.....

After a while, Missy Tee....the first one in....Miss Schmooozy herself, decided to dart out onto the balcony one cold, dark middle of winter night.  How fortuitous!! Why?? Because less than one minute out in the dark and cold and she was tearing back inside looking for all the world like a creature with a head that consisted only of two gigantic eyes!!

OMIGOD!!! It's COLD out there!!!  AGGGGGGHHHH!!!

The next two candidates for the wanderlust award were the two miscreants who fell from the sky onto my doorstep...Lupo and Percy.

Both of them thought it would be great fun to slip out into the courtyard while one of us went in or out.  It became a game, of sorts...an annoying, aggravating miserable game.

These two...meanwhile, are terrifically affectionate inside and rarely balk when anyone suggests it is time for breakfast or dinner. But, gosh!!  What fun!  What's out there??

Well, I can't say what cured Lupo....maybe he got tired of the game to nowhere......like checkers.  But Percy....ahhhh,...Percy.

Percy would not let it go.  And one time...because we were being beckoned by our friend across the street...(we had accepted a package for delivery and they had to be away)....we heard them drive up and went out to give them their packages.  

We hustled out quickly..and only after I was heading into the cortile did I realize I didn't have keys, but my husband did...so, no biggie...and I continued but left the door not "clicked" locked.  Only very slightly open.....then continued outside to the outer door and piazzetta.  As my husband carried their packages inside I heard the "click.".....Errrrrr.......Hopefully it was from within the apartment.

I was hoping someone pushed the door all the way closed to make the lock "click,"

***sigh************

Seconds later I heard a wail.  A WAIL!!!  A mighty, mournful WAIL!!!!

"MEEEEOOOOOOUUUUUUUULLLLLLL"

And then another.  I desperately did not want the crazy old lady next door to come out and somehow mistreat whoever (likely Lupo or Percy) was out there!

So, my husband is now inside the neighbor's house and I don't have keys and I start yelling.  "Keys!  Keys!  I need the keys!"   Seemed like forever, but finally,  my sweet friend said he was coming right down......aggghhhh...more yeeeowllling!!!

It was Percy...big, freaking fat Percy...lap cat and gigantic baby.  He managed to open a nearly locked door....and then regretted his decision almost immediately.  His stinking tail was huge, he was frantic....LET ME IN!!!!!! 

So much for wanderlust.  He hasn't attempted another escape since and also he has been somewhat over protective of his affection right inside the house..."Hold me!  Pet me!  Love me!"   Yeah.

So, I'm guessing, at this point, that these little former street urchins are not at all interested in returning to their "roots."  Even the ones who have pushed the envelope now and again.  Not anymore, thank you very much.  Beds, food, clean water, laps and pets....window sills and breezes....hammocks and snacks....yeah...I'll take it.  

My dreams of putting little halters on them and strolling in the courtyard or piazzetta have been dashed.  

Little dopes.

We are family, I've got all my sisters with me

 Imp, Missy Tee and Calzini are all litter mates.  Their mother was a black cat we called "Mamma Nera" to differentiate her from "Mamma"...who is gray and is Scruff's mother cat.

Mamma N. was quite feral and not very trusting of humans, but while she was pregnant she was obviously hungry.  It took a while, but she eventually would come into the courtyard to get her meals, like everyone else.  

Once the kittens were old enough, she began to bring them up to our "ristorante."  Scruff was still outside at that point, too, so they all were familiar with one another.

Cat litters can have multiple "father cats," so litter mates may be full or only half siblings, biologically. Each one of these kittens seemed markedly different from the other.  One tortoise shell, one gray kitten and one tuxedo.  One female and two males.

We never did get a chance to bring Mamma Nera to the veterinarian since we were so busy with all the others and eventually the inevitable happened and she had another litter, two kittens - one totally white and the other totally black and both adorable.

They, too, were brought to the "ristorante," but the white one was the only one bold enough to climb the one step and seek the food.  I was just guessing that this kitten was a male since he was considerably larger than the other and more outgoing.

That, sadly, may have contributed to his end as the white kitten, Mamma Nera and another large mostly white cat were all poisoned by something someone left in the street.  Sib disappeared too, but he may have been injured, we aren't sure.

The little black kitten, just over two months old, was all alone and crying for Mamma.  It was awful. We were able to befriend her because the weather was warming up, so my husband sat outside for a while every day with a feather teaser toy (and food, of course) until we were able to pick her up and bring her in.  Little Notte, "Orphan Black."

She was the cutest little thing and as time passed I noticed more and more similarities between her and Imp.  The first thing I noticed was their eyes, which are the same shape and often bear the same expression.  They have the same body type...slightly stocky, just a bit wider and shorter than the others.  They have the same texture coat, very thick and soft, but not a double coat. It's just a guess but I think it's possible these two are full siblings, although from separate litters.  

Two full siblings, four altogether with the same mother, but believe me, they are ALL family.  It's remarkable to me how well they all get along (except Missy...when she's hungry) and enjoy each other's company.