I grew up with pets – dogs, guinea pigs (cavies), canaries.  I’m used to having them around, feeding them, worming them, and their general company.  C on the other hand never had pets.  The most he had was his dad and stepmum looked after a couple of stray cats.  Apart from being asthmatic, he’s allergic to dog and cat dander (and probably everything else, too), so having one ourselves is impractical.

However we seem to have ‘found’ a pet cat.  She’s actually next door’s cat.  They do look after her, but she’s one of four or five others, and in the five years we’ve been living here, we’ve never heard the owners actually talk to or make a fuss of any of them.  As a result, she spends a lot of time with us.

First thing in the morning, she appears at our back door, meowling for some attention.  I usually go outside and pat her while drinking my morning coffee.  Then I give her half a tiny can of tuna (she’s pretty skinny – while I’m sure they do feed her at home, I think the older cat, who is fat, eats his share and hers as well).  C might come out and throw the ball around for her a few times – she chases it and pounces on it, she thinks it’s the best game ever.

After work, she comes over again and has a pat or twenty from me, then plays with C and the ball, and may get some dry cat biscuits afterwards.  We’ve got to the point now where we can tell if she’s hungry (rather than just wanting food, which is different) so we don’t automatically feed her all the time.

She’s such a darling 😀  She’s probably about ten months old now, and she definitely loves us back.

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