Hooray – Henry finds a home!!

Bella's always been a little picky about the cats she'll let into her garden. In fact, with just one exception a couple of years ago, she'll hiss and spit at them all, and once even took a run at a poor hapless cat sitting in the middle of the lawn, landing a smack around the chops.

But a few weeks ago a lovely young boy cat came calling, and it all changed. She'd lie on the patio in front of him, legs in the air, flirting like mad. He didn't seem to know what to make of it, but was friendly enough. It was fairly clear though that he was a stray, and he'd worked out that where a cat lived, there would also be food. I used to find him sheltering inside the compost bin (not used for compost, just looks like a redundant dalek), so started putting food in there for him. Of course, he became a regular visitor.

What made me so sure he was a stray was that he was always on the lookout for food, his coat was a little dirty, he was always around, and he very obviously hadn't been neutered. I was starting to think that I should put notices up to see whether any neighbours came forward to claim him, and if not, would see if I could get him along to Animals in Distress – so that he could be checked out by a vet, neutered, and hopefully found a lovely new home. He was quite friendly, although fairly quiet and shy, but had a gentle way about him – I was sure he'd settle well into a home with someone. I'd even started wondering whether Bella would be happy for him to move in with us.

Before I could do that, someone beat me to it! There were posters attached to lampposts with his lovely face on. They said that he'd been visiting these people, and that he was very friendly – but clearly they wanted to find out whether he belonged to anyone. I called and left a message, and a few days later Sophie called back. No-one had contacted her apart from me, so they were certain he didn't have a home to call his own. She and her partner had decided that they would be happy for him to live with them, which was great news.

They decided to call him Henry, and he now sports a smart new green collar, which will indicate to people he has a home to go to.

Things are going quite well. The weather's been fine recently, so most of the time he seems happy to be outside, continuing to wander around his territory. But he always knows where to go for food, and whenever Sophie opens the door at meal times he's always there. He's even slept in their bedroom 3 times.

And I've been to take care of him as Sophie and her partner have been away for a couple of weekends recently. It's lovely to see him in his new home, and see how well he's doing. On Saturday morning he came in for his food, then went upstairs. I followed a little while later and found him flat out on the bed, fast asleep. He stirred a little as I went in, but not for long. It was an extremely hot day, and I think all the heat had made him very tired. Also, when you're living the life of a stray cat, you can never quite switch off, even while you're asleep – who knows what other cats might be coming around? He just needed a good long sleep, knowing that he would be safe. The next morning he looked very refreshed, and ready to go out again.

He knows where his home is now, although having spent a while as a stray, he might never really become a home-loving cat, preferring to wander outside as much as he can. But he loves his new garden, knows it's his, and is never far from the back door. So, I've not seen him here now for a couple of weeks; now that he has a home and regular food, he's less need to go finding food where he can. For a few days Bella would go outside looking for him, but I think she's forgotten now. She'll get over it!