I love and appreciate that so many of you asked to know what happened next!
I open the back door, and she comes in quite comfortably...even put her nose on my fingers when I reached out! She's still eating a lot and was here at breakfast time. She was inside for such a length of time, Ken and I went back to our computers and left her and Tigger to sit and watch one another, fully in the family room!
However, we started hearing her "talking" (sounded like, "Howw...Loww...") and I said to Ken, she's probably just testing the water to assure herself he was going to leave her alone! But...that talking turned into a full-fledged "bundle of whirling fur and claws and screaming"!
Ken can jump up faster than I can, and out the door both of them ran! He returned, carrying Tigger, and we're not altogether sure WHAT happened except a play for dominance (hers, not his)!
But here's "the good part" that's a clue in the mystery! Her collar came off! That said, what I hoped was a disc with a name and/or phone # was only a charm shaped like a moon...no information...
Ken and a neighbor have checked the local internet Lost and Found, and tomorrow I will ask at the closest vet if someone has left notice of her absence. If and when she's more comfortable with me, I can try to get her to a vet for a chip check.
My neighbor asked if I had named her, but it seems a bit premature... Then I laughed and said, "How does 'Carlisle' sound?" She's my age and didn't pick up on it. It's pretty esoteric and most might not get it, but if you think, "Kitty" and remember "What's My Line", it might make you laugh, too!
She looks so sweet and petite. My husband was on What's My Line when he was 17! He had won a Diamond Jewelry Design competition and was invited on the show. They did not guess that he was a goldsmith/jewelry maker.
@gardenfolk What a FASCINATING bit of information!!! Everyone has some sort of amazing story to tell, but they're the sort of things you don't just blurt out in daily conversation!!! That's a good one!!! I'm so glad you shared!!!
@lynnz@corinnec "She" is small which Is why I'm only guessing that she's a female. If this is "a young Tom", the owners should have kept it closer to home. "She", to me, just has"the delicate look of a female" but time will tell!!! (I'm also guessing "female" because Tigger seems to be more fascinated with her than aggressively wanting to run her off! (After yesterday's kerfuffle, I wonder if he's changed his mind!)
I've seen episodes of game shows where Kitty Carlisle was a panelist- she always strikes me as intelligent and elegant.