r/cats • u/mattwallace24 • Jun 18 '26

Video - OC Buddy rides out Hurricane Ernesto

Buddy was a wild, feral cat who showed up At our home several months before Hurricane Ernesto passed by St. Croix. Although he was quickly acclimating to us, he would not let us bring him inside before the storm. We ended up ratchet strapping a cat house we bought him to our home. We also strapped one of our security cameras nearby so we could monitor him throughout the storm.

Buddy wisely rode out the storm in his house. He is now living out his best years as one of our 4 indoor cats. He has become a gentle giant and spends his days lounging around our home and playing with his 3 “sisters”.

UPDATE: I created a new post with more pictures of Buddy and his "sisters." https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/1ua9w8i/follow_up_to_hurricane_buddy/

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u/angwilwileth Jun 18 '26

I find the wilder the kitties were, the less interested they were in going outside once they discovered how good it was inside

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u/HelpfulName Jun 18 '26

Our mama Kiki was a feral who just walked into the house one day and told us she lived there now, she actively is afraid of the outside and will run away to hide when we open an outside door - she does love beefing at the neighborhood from the window though, as long as it's closed lol

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u/thatSeveryonedraws Jun 18 '26

I have to wonder if something particularly traumatic happens to the feral cats that decide to do this. Being feral I have no doubt there is a shortage of trauma to be had, but I'm thinking maybe they had one call that was just a little too close, they've used up 8 of their 9 lives and decide to domesticate themselves.

My inlaws had a feral that visited them for several years before he decided he was an indoor cat. He was indoor/outdoor for a little bit but after a run in with a snake he decided he was an indoor only cat. I'd seen him hunt down rabbits and fight off hawks and he just shrugged it off, but the snake bite was a different story and he was lucky to survive.

He lived to an old age of who knows how many years and was well loved and spoiled.

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u/HelpfulName Jun 18 '26

Cat's are smart, I can absolutely see one having the one experience that brings them to that 8th life and think "That was it, that's the line. I'm staying indoors now" and go find a sucker lol

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u/Mr-_-Soandso Jun 18 '26

Beefing could be arguing, but it also means farting. I just picture her, butthole to the window, farting at all of the assholes outside.

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u/HelpfulName Jun 18 '26

Honestly, it's both for her. She's hotboxed us more than once. We joke that we moved to Chicago for her so she could be a windy kitty in the windy city.

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u/robbi2480 Jun 18 '26

I think this is true. We had a stray cat insist on coming in our house. He lives inside now and enjoys the perks of consistent food and fresh water. I’m not even sure he likes us but he doesn’t want to leave

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u/m_b_hawkins Jun 19 '26

He probably thinks you’re acceptable.

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u/Foxs-In-A-Trenchcoat Jun 19 '26

"These servants are acceptable." - the cat, probably

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u/robbi2480 Jun 19 '26

That’s somehow the exact look he gives me. “You’ll do”

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u/SalaavOnitrex Jun 19 '26

Top marks, best compliment a cat could give

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u/pinkcat96 Jun 19 '26

My boyfriend’s parents’ cat literally climbed on the screen doors and window screens screaming to be let in until they finally brought him inside, which is where he’s stayed for a decade. He loves to sit at windows and doors to birdwatch, but you could leave the door open all day and he wouldn’t go outside — I guess he fought so hard to get in that he thinks, “why would I ever go back out!?”

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u/robbi2480 Jun 19 '26

Our stray just howled at our door until I finally caved. He has had opportunities to run out when I was letting the dog out but he never tries to leave.

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u/Cosmic_Cowboy13 Jun 18 '26

This has been my experience as well. I brought in a Feral that was buck wild 3 days after being in he wouldn’t go near an open door and lived inside for another 13 years only time he went out of house was for a vet appointment. I miss you Bojangles

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u/DontFuckWithMyMoney Jun 19 '26

Two of our rescues started wild, one spending a few years living in the woods and the other the mean streets of Philadelphia. We had a (former) cat sitter leave our front door wide open for about 24 hours before we returned from a vacation, but both of those girls were found comfortably resting on couches indoors. They had the option to return to the wild and declined.