Specter and "his" babies

Specter and "his" babies, originally uploaded by Boered.

Specter is a male cat that showed up here a couple of years ago. At first we only saw fleeting glimpses of him running to and from our barn (so I named him “Specter”- like a ghost). Eventually he became brave enough to come up onto our deck, where all of my cats get fed, but he was still terribly afraid of us. He’s finally grown to trust us and is one of the sweetest cats I’ve ever met. But poor Specter apparently had a very hard life before he came to live with us… he has a crooked mouth (which makes him drool a bit) and skinny/weak rear legs and tail. I think he was either hit by a car at some point, or horribly abused.

The funny thing about Specter is that he LOVES kittens! I discovered that last year when my cat Binky gave birth to 3 kittens under a pile of wood out in our woods. Everyday when Binky left the kittens to go eat or hunt, I’d see Specter sneak into her hiding spot. He’d sit in there with the kittens and he’d hiss at anyone who tried to look inside the woodpile to see them. Later when they got a little bit bigger, he’d even carry them around in his mouth! One of those kittens happened to be Fat Kitty – the cat who just had kittens on my deck a few weeks ago. I don't think Specter is the father.

Now Specter spends all of his time with Fat Kitty’s kittens. He sleeps in the hay with them and kisses them all over, just like a mother cat. I’ve even seen him lay there purring and purring while the little kittens try to nurse off of him! Specter is definitely at his happiest, when he’s surrounded by kittens.

by Boered