Me and My Cat

A feral cat had kittens in a tree outside Ron Venden's house, and then moved all the kittens but one, who made her home in the tree. Now Ron takes care of the cat. And it's basically totally adorable.

Ron Venden, of Green County Wisconsin [a white, middle-aged man, speaking over images of white and tiger-striped cat up in snowy tree in his front yard]: This is a story about my cat here, that's been up in the tree for about seven months. Uh, the mother had babies up there and, uh, she up and left and moved 'em all except this little one.

[edit; Ron walks toward tree] You can see the cat looks pretty healthy. She's been in there since June. I heard a noise; I went up here, got the ladder and went up here, and here's this little kitten. So, I started feeding it and it was real feisty at me, but sooner and later I started petting it, and now it's just as tame as can be, so.

[edit; Ron holds out plastic container of food] Salami and meatloaf!

Female reporter off-screen: And the cat likes it?!

Ron: Oh, she loves it!"

[edit; Ron speaking over images of the cat's straw-lined and covered nest he built in the tree] There was a big hole, like this, and I thought, 'Well, now if she doesn't, if he doesn't come outta that tree, then I better do something to protect her from the weather, so I put a piece of tin over it, and then I put, uh, tar paper on top the tin that's black to make it draw a little bit of heat. And then I cut a small hole in there, so she goes down in the hole and goes down into the tree.

[edit; Ron is standing on the ladder, petting the cat and giggling; the cat rubs its head against his hand]

Reporter: Now how long will you continue to do this? Will you do this for years and years?

Ron: Oh yeah. I'm not gonna stop, no. No, if I'm gone, there'll be someone here to take care of the cat. I'm gonna leave her—I'm gonna see how long it stays here. [laughs; pets cat]

For those who have never had a cat, or never had a peculiar cat, lol, it's not terribly unusual for cats to contain themselves to one small area for long stretches of their lives and then suddenly one day, without seemingly any reason, change their minds and venture into new territory. My parents' cat never went into certain rooms of their house until after their other cat died (and they were friends; it wasn't like he was keeping her out). Sophie would only come into the living room during certain hours until very recently, for no discernible reason. Some cats will avoid a particular piece of furniture or a room or a window like the plague, and then get a bug up their ass and suddenly it's their new favorite.

Cats can be really weird like that, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if one day Tree Cat got it in her head to follow Ron into his house and lived out the rest of her life there.

[H/T to Shaker Melissa.]