New Cat

I used to think about how cool it would be to raise wildcats as normal housepets, if only they weren't so dangerous. Then last week I found out about this new cross-breed called the Ashera. They have leopard-like spots, are as big as a normal-sized dog, live for about 25 years and can weigh 30 pounds. The Ashera apparently is friendly and good with children, just like any other housecat, but a lot bigger. Unfortunately at $22,000 each they're a little out of my price range. I won't be getting one anytime soon, but thinking about the Ashera made me start thinking about how nice it would be to have a cat.

The more I thought about it the more I wanted one. With leopard-like spots. And preferably female so it won't spray all over the place to mark its territory. I used to think the cats running around my neighborhood had deformed tails until someone told me that they're supposed to look like that - Japanese Bobtails. They're kind of cute, so one of those would be nice.

Then yesterday I came home for lunch and was thinking about cats while walking to the door. I stopped to pull out my keys and out of nowhere a kitten came up and starting rubbing against my legs and purring. I bent down and it jumped into my lap. How weird that it showed up just when I was thinking about cats. In my 7 years here this has never happened before... the strays in the area are so skittish and run away as soon as they see me coming.

I couldn't believe how friendly it was and how it showed up out of the blue, just when I was thinking about what kind of cat I wanted. And in an amazing coincidence it was a short-tailed female, with spots. So I got to thinking... is this some kind of sign? Am I meant to keep it? I decided that if it came into the house, I'd keep it. So I put it down and opened the door. It came into the house.

She started crying loudly while rubbing against my legs. I figured she was hungry but there isn't any meat or fish in the house so I made scrambled eggs, which she seemed to like. She sat next to me the whole time I was cooking. Then after she finished eating she jumped onto my bed and fell asleep. I left her there and bought a kitty litter tray and some cat food. Then I went to work.

When I came home last night she was still in bed. I think she has a cold. Her nose is runny and she keeps sneezing, and she hasn't done anything but sleep the whole time (with an occasional trip to get some water).

Today I kept thinking how her showing up was like a prayer being answered. A prayer for a spotted, short-tailed female cat. And she's so friendy. Last night she kept trying to sleep on my face and today she stayed by my side wherever I happened to be.

But is this fate? Am I meant to keep her? Or could it be that she's so friendly and ran up to me because she's used to people coddling her... that she actually isn't a stray, but belongs to someone in the neighborhood and happened to get out of the house yesterday? Come to think of it she's a healthy size, so has probably been fed regularly. I'm not sure of what I should do.

Idea #1: Put her back outside to let her owner find her again, if she has one. But I worry about her getting run over or beat up by other cats or going hungry.

Idea #2: Just keep her. But then eventually I'll have to look for someplace else to live since my place has a strict no-pets policy.

Idea #3: See if someone else wants her. This doesn't seem like a good idea, since she might already have an owner and plus I want to keep her.

In any case I'll keep my eyes open for the next few days. Perhaps someone has put signs up in the neighborhood for a lost cat. Here are some pictures... you can see how her tail is short with a tiny bump at the end.