The Laughing Wolf

I Seem To Have Been Adopted

I think I am now a pet.

Well, that is how the cat looks at it at any rate. One of my neighbors has an indoor/outdoor cat that I have always referred to as Tigersocks. Nice enough cat, has talked to me a time or two, and has cut down on the mouse, and bird, population around the apartments. Love the former, am less than thrilled most days at the latter.

After school let out, I noticed that the neighbors did not seem to be home much or at all, but the cat was. From what I can tell, the wife and daughters are elsewhere and I think the husband is still around but is gone for stretches of time too. They left a bowl of food out for the cat, which did not last long around here, and it was not refilled for a good while. Still not sure it was refilled by them, think some of the other neighbors may have helped out a bit.

So, I jumped in. When I realized what was going on, I fed Tigersocks a time or two, with some tuna from the emergency stores. Made sure it had fresh, cool water for the heat, and have since gotten a bag of Meow Mix (on sale) and am making sure it does have food.

I am less than amused by parts of this, and highly amused by the fact that I now seem to have a cat keeping a close eye on me. Tigersocks is a bit annoyed at me on some fronts. As a two-legged pet, I should let him into his place and have been most rude in not doing so. Explanations of keys, property laws, shotguns, and the like make no difference on this. He wanted to come in with me yesterday, but allergies (strong) and a lack of flea collar make that a no-go.

The less-than-amused goes to how a lot of people, not just the neighbors, treat animals. I lived for a year in the mountains an hour or two from a major metropolitan area. The number of cats and other animals dumped up there with “Go, be free, return to the wild” is staggering. What happens to said animals is not pretty and I have often had to be the one to end them and/or their suffering. I used to keep some rock salt shells handy for the yuppie scum who did such, pity I never got a clear shot. Then again, the type people who would drop off in the mountains are most likely urban environmentalists who think nature is nice, peaceful, and sweet and have no concept of “red of tooth and claw.”

We will see what happens, but for now I am relatively content to have been temporarily adopted.

-30-