A visitor came calling

You may remember in yesterdays post I mentioned coming across a grass snake while cutting the lawn. There was also another visitor about ten minutes before the snake, a cat.

Those who know me, know I’m not a fan of cats. It’s not that I hate them, I just don’t like their killing habits and they tend to make me nervous as I’m never sure what they’ll do next.

So when this huge orange cat appeared from the bushes I shushed it away with my usual hiss and claps.

But this cat came back.

Late last night, as the wind howled and the rain couldn’t figure out which direction to fall in, the BH told me there was a cat meowing loudly as it hid under my car. And being that this daft beast was daring enough to return, I figured it must be in some sort of trouble, so I went down and was nice for a change. The poor thing was wet and starving, and very friendly.

Well I might not like the pesky creatures very much, at the same time I’m not heartless; plus did I mention, this cat was very, very friendly? So I could hardly turn it away.

I watched it wolf down a packet of Ryker’s expensive dog food half expecting it to take off again when full, but it didn’t go, instead it was even more friendly. So I made it a bed in the garage and invited it to stay for the night.

When I got up this morning and headed down to see if our visitor was still enjoying the room service, I wasn’t too surprised to see it had gone. But I figured it was worth a ‘Here, Puss, Puss,’ to see if it was within earshot and fancied some breakfast. Sure enough a pair of eyes appeared from the darkness and it came bounding over to inspect the warmed chicken on offer.

I got a better look at it in the daylight (though I didn’t manage to figure out if it was a girl, or a lad, without his lads) I could see it’d been loved at some point, but at the same time it was obvious this fella had been without attention for quite a while. And it’d messed itself in the night, which of course set me off worrying it was my fault for giving the poor thing dog food, and when I think about it, way too much food too. It stank. And I mean it really stank. And I can tell you that even without much of a sense of smell!

Anyways I couldn’t do much as breakfast time was calling, and then the school runs, and then work. I didn’t get home until lunchtime. And this time I really was surprised when it appeared yet again, being just as friendly.

But I was starting to see a pattern here. This cat was way too friendly! And I can’t have that. What if I go getting attached to the thing?! I felt awful making the call. But it’s for the best. And anyway it may turn out it's got an appalling sense of direction, and someone's missing it.

So I fed it the remained of his breakfast chicken (BTW, how often are you supposed to feed cats?) and we had a final grand petting session.

But we were outside, and sooner than I expected, the Animal Shelter’s van showed up. And as soon as the cat heard the noise of the van, it took off!

And it wasn’t coming back. Least not whilst the man was there, so I accepted a cage and some proper cat food (tuna fish! I should have thought!!).

I gave it ten minutes after the man had left and then went out and called for Puss, Puss. It came bounding from the bushes!

I felt like such a traitor as I emptied the cat food into a bowl inside the cage. It trusted me. And I darn near had to squash that cage door closed, that bloody cat was so big (it was easily as large as Kobi! Though obviously skinnier.)

The man from the Shelter laughed when he was back within half-an-hour, said the cat must like me. But at least the cat was still friendly. Even from behind bars it purred like a mad thing whenever a finger poked through for a stroke. So friendly in fact, that the man from the shelter was kind enough to reassure me it wouldn’t have any trouble finding a new home, should it not be on the missing list.

And he said I could call next week to make sure things were on the up for the fella.




I don’t even like cats, I swear.