Introducing Louie

A few months ago, I posted a pic of a neighborhood kitty (already fixed, of course) that I've been feeding for nearly two years. We originally thought he was feral, hence the ear tip, but neighbors have said he's likely an abandoned pet from a couple of streets away. Until early fall, he was only coming around sporadically and didn't want anything to do with me, so he went without a real name. Since then, he's become a regular morning and evening visitor and grown increasingly more friendly and communicative. He loves petting and attention. He's still very skittish at times, though, and will only approach me and allow petting if he's outside my front door. He's shown no interest in coming inside and I'm not going to force the issue at this point. He does have shelter in our yard. He appears healthy and is certainly well fed.

Here's my dilemma - I've always wanted a big, sweet, adult black male cat. Appears I may have one. I'm not in the position to add another permanent indoor cat, but am completely committed to this sweet boy. If/when he's ready to come in and if he appears to be adoptable, fostering him is an option, although I do know the challenges of finding a home for adult cats, especially black ones. One thing at a time, though.

Obviously, from the title of this thread, my sweet black kitty now has a name - Louie. That name has special signifance for me. My dad's name (he passed away in May of last year) was Louis. I told Dad if I ever had a black male cat I'd name him Louie and he always got a kick out of that. So, here's Louie.

It's so sweet that you named Arthur after your dad.

My spare bedroom/foster room is actually open right now since I'm not currently fostering for the rescue (that could change pretty quickly). I'd really like to see Louie come in on his own, though. It's taken so long get him to trust me, I don't want to damage that. It's supposed to snow tomorrow night, so maybe that will draw him inside.