Why Won't This Cat Look at Me?
A few days ago I spent a few minutes stalking this kitty in my neighbor's flower bed with camera in hand. Part of her territory is near my mailbox. I have encountered her before and she was pretty shy then, too. I first introduced her in Two Very Different Cats: One Shy, the Other Sociable.
Normally I can at least get a strange cat to look me in the eye, but not this one. If she's looking at me at all, she is scowling. As we appraised each other, she also let out a few growls. Evidently she doesn't like to have me stalk her. I think she'd rather do the stalking herself. On this day it seems her mind was fixed on eating grass.
What I Learned about This Kitty
One day when I went to get the mail, I was concerned that for a few weeks I hadn't seen any signs of the neighbor I thought owned this kitty. When I saw her neighbor across the street, I asked if she knew why her neighbor wasn't around. I learned she was on vacation and her nephew was taking care of the property.
While we were talking Kitty strolled over. I asked who she belonged to. The neighbor replied that the cat sort of belonged to everyone. She visited all of them and many of them fed her. I immediately thought of Six Dinner Sid, a humorous cat picture book by Inga Moore. Anyone who loves cats will want to read it.
Sid is also a neighborhood cat, but none of the six neighbors know it. They all think he belongs just to them. He has managed to convince each that he's theirs and they all feed him. He gets six dinners a day. He is able to keep them all unaware of his duplicity because the neighbors don't talk to each other -- until the day Sid gets sick and all six neighbors take him to the same vet, who puts it all together. He lets them know what Sid has been up to. I won't tell you the rest. The book, and its sequel, which I just found out about, is available at Amazon. At least our neighbor kitty hasn't fooled anyone. They all know what she's doing and they don't care.
I Wonder If Kitty Will Ever Be My Friend?
One of my favorite neighbor cats, Sarah, was very hard to befriend, but after a few days and many cat treats she finally warmed up to me. Soon she was hanging out on my porch. I looked forward to coming home every afternoon, knowing she'd be there waiting for me -- and her cat treat. Unfortunately Sarah met with an unknown fate. Her owners kept all their cats, including Sarah, outside. One day she was gone and never returned. We think she met with disaster in the form of the coyotes that roam our property from time to time. I made this memorial ornament to honor her. I miss her every time I return to our Templeton home. The ornament is easy to customize to memorialize any pet.
I wonder if I will ever make friends with neighbor kitty as I did with Sarah. Maybe I'd better buy some cat treats to take with me when I get the mail. I'd like to change the scowl to a smile and the growl to a purr. It would be enlightening to know what Kitty is thinking. I wonder if she would really like to be friends and just wants to be coaxed. I'd love to be able to talk to her.
Do you ever befriend neighbor pets? Do any special ones come to mind?
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