Catty

We have been adopted. It happened on a sunny afternoon, whilst the little people were home from school sick. We had, on the doctor's advice, been taking some fresh air and had walked about the neighborhood. When out of nowhere, a tiger cat came up to me and was making nice. She is beautiful. Good disposition and very friendly.

We fed her and she seemed happy. We did not see her again for a bit, but left some cat food out (which I had borrowed from the neighbor) and it disappeared bit by bit.

Lo and behold a few days ago, she is back and has stayed. She likes to sit on the deck and H and I think she is living under the deck.

We had no more cat food, so I have been feeding her whatever I had, some tuna and rice, some chicken sausage, some shrimp and stale toast. Some milk. Unlimited water.

I have photographed her and posted her picture to various websites and have gotten some emails, but no one has come forward to claim her or want to take her in and provide her an inside home.

I went and obtained coat food, in various varieties yesterday. She is very hungry. I decided a mixture of dry and moist food, would be a good choice, she needs to bulk up a bit.

As I put food in her bowl this afternoon and talked to her, I decided it is very likely that she is now ours. I cannot see taking her to the Humane Society, only to have killed, for no reason other than someone turned her out, she got out by mistake or fate. She is very pleasing and very pretty. She is not mean. She seems to like the kids.

While we cannot have her in the house, given I and my mother are allergic, we can try and provide her a good home. We can give her shelter and feed her. She seems content to hang out on the deck. H is lukewarm on the idea of letting her sleep in the garage, but he is even less ok, with me spending money to let someone kill her.

I just cannot let her starve either. That is just fundamentally wrong. I know most people, as evidenced by my neighbor, who had her on her deck first and did nothing, can just turn a blind eye to another creature's suffering, I cannot. She is not a wild cat, she has been someone's pet, someone who thoughtlessly and cruelly shoved her out or she is a victim of circumstance. She escaped or wandered too far, or there was a traumatic event in the home she was in. Just as friends of our, had their cat go missing, for a few weeks, after their house fire.

So later this week, she and I will go to the vet, I will get her a collar and she will, I suppose, unless someone comes forward, be in effect ours, for as long as she will have us. My neighbor has a largely outdoor cat and she says the cat will be ok in the garage, even when it is very cold, I can always give her a warm blanket and so forth. I have to think a family to love her and care for the best they can, is better than being killed, even if it is humanely. I understand that there is an explosion of unwanted cats, but I just cannot be part of cats death march. With us, she has a chance at a happy life.

E has named her "Catty."

She has named us, "family."