“What his right name is I’ve never heard. But around here, he’s known as Strider.”
Strider. The one cat who adopted us. Our vet puts his birthday at May 4th, 2011. (“Mayday! Mayday!”)
Strider was found in our garage hiding under the hood of my car. At the time he was just a small 1 pound feral kitten. He proceeded to run away and hide in various places before finally getting cornered and caught. Of course when Strider was caught, he decided to bite in retaliation. When we took him to the vet that morning, Strider again bit a vet tech. Strider spent at least the first full week meowing constantly the whole time he was awake, trying to cry to find his mother.
He has always remained a scardy-cat , though he’s getting more brave as he learns to trust us more as he gets older. Strider still hates thunder, if you hold large pieces of clothing, if you move something near him, and probably other things I’m missing. He used to be scared of drawers opening and would dart away when we walked upstairs. Now he approaches, well at least me, several times a day. He’s learned to climb our newest cat tower on his own without fearing fearful for being up so high. Strider has also figured out how to get down from the cat tower.
Strider is a very smart kitty. Put cat treats in a bag, in a container, and he’ll find a way to break into all of it. His favorite cat toy as a kitten was the Peek-A-Prize box. In a couple of minutes he would fish out all of the toy balls inside the box. I would have to put them back in, and Strider would fish them out again. He has also recently learned from Kero that he too can drink out of the sink. Strider just observed, and then did the same thing. I told you, he’s scary smart.
Strider has been very fortunate to be adopted and accepted by our boys Boo & Kero. They all snuggle with each other, groom each other, head butt, and so on. It has helped him to deal with losing his family, dealing with how to become an indoor cat, dealing with his fears, and so on.
We strongly suspect that Strider is a Maine Coon. He has the beard, the toe tuffs, the fluffy tail, the size. All he is lacking is the ear fur tufts. Strider also used to chatter a lot as a kitten, but has been growing out of that. I think it’s because the other cats don’t chatter, so Strider must have learned his chattering is an odd cat behavior.
We have no idea where Strider came from. There is a drainage area behind our house. Or he could have hitched a ride on my car when I made a stop nearby home the night before he was discovered. So since we don’t know his history, I named him Strider for his mysteriousness.