Feral Portrait: Blaze

Blaze

This little lady is named Blaze, for the perfect marking on her forehead.   She deserves a better, more individual name, but I haven't thought of one yet.  She is by far and away my favorite of all the Ferals.

Blaze was the first of the wild cats to show up on my doorstep.  Slightly over two months old, she decided she wanted to live here with her two sisters and two brothers.  All of them are tuxedo kitties, one black like her and the other three solid gray tuxedos (no stripes).  Shortly after Blaze showed up, her mother followed the brood, but Blaze was the first.

Blaze is a talker.  She calls out when it is time to be fed.  She presses herself against the porch gate and reminds me that it's time.   And sometimes she gets lonely and calls me to come outside and keep her company.  I sit on the steps and we just spend time together.  She gets closer than her mother is comfortable with, but Blaze doesn't care.  She lives here, this is her home.  She seems to know she is safe and loved here.  She used to try to come up on the porch, but it wasn't a good idea when we had Sophie living here.  Now that Sophie is gone, I suspect Blaze will be coming back for another try at the porch.   

Sometimes Blaze just likes to call me to watch her fall asleep in the potted plants.  Sadly, I didn't start trying to tame the Ferals until recently, but Blaze was the first one that could be petted.  She wasn't sure it was a good idea at first, but she put up with it.  Now she understands that being petted is the price she must pay for her food, and she no longer seems to mind it.  If I had started sooner, she would be a lap cat.  She has an affectionate character and likes people, even though she still is a wild kitty.

If you take a good look at her face,  you will see that she has two small white markings just under her nose.  For all the world, they look like buck teeth.  But buck teeth are incongruous with her personality, because Blaze is a lady in every sense of the word.  Her manners are impeccable.  She waits for me to invite her before she eats.  She always looks at me as if to say 'Thank you',  both before and after each meal.

Yes, Blaze has been spayed.  She was the first with that, too.   I am hoping that when the weather turns cold, she will find that coming in our home is a pleasant thing to do.