Gary and his beloved dog Yamni

Meet the newest member of our family - the new shop kitty Gary!

Gary was a completely feral alley cat that we trapped behind the gallery...

He was truly the first completely wild cat that we ever trapped.
We are sure he was never anyone's pet, had never been near a human or been indoors before in his life.
It was our intention to get him fixed and vaccinated and find him a home as a barn cat.
We kept him in a playpen cage in the back of the gallery.

This is the first time he looked relaxed. (After his surgery!)

This is the first time he got in the hammock.

It was clear that Elvie and Gary were becoming friends!
By this time I was in love and the thought of finding a barn for Gary to live in broke my heart.
Parke and I decided to try to tame him.

First, we started holding Gary's food dish in our hand so he would get used to us.
Eventually, he allowed me to touch his tail!

Parke would wear thick gloves and try to pet Gary.
This is the first time Parke tried petting him with no glove - at this point, 8 weeks had gone by!!

After 3 months, we let him out of the cage. I hate to admit, we did not see him for a couple of weeks - he hid under the couch or my work tables. I was very worried that he was a hopeless case.

But then on New Year's Day, 2012, while I was working, I felt a kitty rub against my leg.
I thought it was Elvie ~ but it was Gary!! here is a photo of the first time he asked me to pet him:

Now, mid-February, he thinks he owns the gallery!
We are not allowed to pick him up, but a couple times a day he asks for pets.

He loves looking at pigeons outside the window.

He is madly in love with Yamni and rarely leaves her alone!

We realize now that Gary is a kitten ~ he is a pure scamper-bug, trotting around the shop,
playing with toys and Elvie and Sly.

I think it's been good for Sly, having another guy around!

He likes sleeping on the beds on the display case.

but now his favorite bed is Yamni's. He wants to snuggle with her, but she always leaves.
Look at his face!
I am so happy that he is happy now.
As of this writing, he is not allowed outside, but come summer I know we will have to let him play in the backyard.
I'm going to get him micro-chipped first!
We love him and he is officially a shop kitty now :o)

By the way, every feral cat we have ever trapped has super litterbox manners!
Usually we have tamed kitties within a couple of weeks in the playpen, but Gary took 3 whole months.
Now, 5 months later, he no longer hides when people walk in the door.
Every day he makes progress.
I'm still not allowed to pick him up, but I try everyday!

We named Gary in honor of three of our favorite humans:
Gary Lowenthal, Gary Smith, and Gary Yourofsky!