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darkemeraldsWell, that was unexpected! I just had a knock on my door, and the guy who knocked said he used to be Sam the Stray Cat's person.
He told me which house they used to live in, and said that after two litters, Sam (who is evidently not a boy cat after all!) went kind of feral, and changed from a lap cat to a wild, untouchable thing almost overnight. She's been spayed (I figured--no pregnancy, which is kind of why I thought she was a he). She's about five years old, apparently, and has identical-looking offspring living around town.
Dean, the twin brother cat, was the neighborhood cat-bully, and not related as far as this fellow knew.
Sam--or Graydie, as he called her--ran away when they moved, about a year ago. They came looking for her for months afterwards, and left food near the rental house they'd moved out of, but couldn't spot her or get near her if they did. He's been asking around the neighborhood, and someone finally said, oh yeah, that big gray cat is staying with that big gray lady on the corner.
He was almost in tears to see her looking so well and actually wandering in and out of my front door as we stood talking. I was feeling strangely protective, and was sure he wanted to take her away, but no, his purpose in coming was to offer to help pay for her care and feeding, because he now lives where he can't have a cat.
Graydie seemed to remember the guy--at least, she let him pet her head, which she doesn't let anyone do.
So, it's not Sam-Sam-the-Kitty-Man anymore. It's Graydie.
Strange. Kind of nice.
He told me which house they used to live in, and said that after two litters, Sam (who is evidently not a boy cat after all!) went kind of feral, and changed from a lap cat to a wild, untouchable thing almost overnight. She's been spayed (I figured--no pregnancy, which is kind of why I thought she was a he). She's about five years old, apparently, and has identical-looking offspring living around town.
Dean, the twin brother cat, was the neighborhood cat-bully, and not related as far as this fellow knew.
Sam--or Graydie, as he called her--ran away when they moved, about a year ago. They came looking for her for months afterwards, and left food near the rental house they'd moved out of, but couldn't spot her or get near her if they did. He's been asking around the neighborhood, and someone finally said, oh yeah, that big gray cat is staying with that big gray lady on the corner.
He was almost in tears to see her looking so well and actually wandering in and out of my front door as we stood talking. I was feeling strangely protective, and was sure he wanted to take her away, but no, his purpose in coming was to offer to help pay for her care and feeding, because he now lives where he can't have a cat.
Graydie seemed to remember the guy--at least, she let him pet her head, which she doesn't let anyone do.
So, it's not Sam-Sam-the-Kitty-Man anymore. It's Graydie.
Strange. Kind of nice.
(no subject)
21/4/10 07:40 (UTC)Sound familiar? :)
(no subject)
21/4/10 18:54 (UTC)I think, now that I've had a few hours to reflect on it, that the most affecting part of the story is that the people came back to the neighborhood over and over again, leaving food and trying to find this cat (who is the most astonishingly well-camouflaged thing you can imagine in a city full of gloomy days and damp pavement--seriously, I call her Invisi-Kitty because she's almost completely undetectable in a shadow or at night, far more so than even a black cat would be). And a whole year later, they were still looking, and still concerned--but not demanding to take her back.
It was just a really interesting moment.