Strays

I came across this stray cat on the way home yesterday. I was amazed by her trusting-ness (not a good survival trait in a stray, which is why it's all the more amazing) - she walked right up to me, flopped over onto her belly, and made it quite clear that a belly-rub was in order.




She was a most obliging model for the next 5 minutes, rolling around and squinting at the camera. I should've had a studio and lights for this one ...



After a while, she got up and walked away, without a single backward glance - like all cats. = )

There've been several generations of strays living downstairs of us. The first one we called Radar. She was a character: walked right into the ground floor flat one day, gave birth to two kittens, and walked right out. The foster family took them in (not much choice) and gave them names, but I can only remember Snowball. They still prowl the area downstairs occasionally. There was the skittish cat who gave birth to two kittens in a concrete tub, and who hissed out of all proportion to her size in their defence. We later saw her with only one, so the other must've died. There've been uncounted nameless toms who've prowled through the neighbourhood at one point or another as well. You get used to these strays, and hope that they stay out of trouble, but you always worry what will happen to them.

One of the things that led K and I to take in Patch 3 years ago was an encounter with another stray. This one was a kitten at the coffeeshop, and she climbed right up into my lap and fell asleep there. We talked about taking her in, but couldn't make the committment yet. A few days later, one of the coffeeshop regulars told us the kitten had been run over on the road.

Sometime later, Patch turned up on our doorstep, her fur bald in patches (hence the name) from ringworm, and we took her in, and nursed her back to health. One year later, we saw Iffy by the side of the road, blind from the mucus that had glued her eyes shut, and we nursed her back to health as well. Twinkle's story has already been told earlier this year.

In retrospect, I'm glad we took these 3 cats in: they've more than paid their way by curling up on our laps and purring everytime we need comfort.

(well, most times. cats are, after all, their own creatures)



cats