I must confess to an embarrassing situation. For several months now a little mackerel tabby cat has been frequenting our back garden.

CaseySince as far back as October and throughout the dreadful winter Maisie, (as I’d named her), would hunch under one of the patio chairs on the decking and gratefully polish off two bowls of cat food that I’d put out for her. Any attempts to stroke or touch her would see her rush off with a look of fear in her beautiful green eyes.

Then a few weeks ago one Sunday I had a major breakthrough. My bathroom is situated downstairs next to the kitchen and I found Maisie curled up asleep on the bathroom mat. Speaking quietly in what I hoped was a kindly voice, I spoke to her while I was in the bathroom. I decided I would try to stroke her and was rewarded by her head being pushed into the palm of my hand. The next time I went to the bathroom, she was still there so I stroked her again. Again she pushed her head into my hand.

The third time I went to the bathroom (this is stretched out throughout the day, I hasten to add, not every couple of seconds!!) I decided to try and pick her up. Amazingly she let me pick her up and cuddle her without any attempt on her part to struggle or get down. I put her down before she reached that point telling her what a beautiful girl she is and how pretty she is etc, etc.

Imagine my enormous surprise when Maisie began to walk to the food bowl area that she has claimed as her own when I noticed something that Lady Cats don’t usually have; there was a full contingent of Dangly Bits only associated with unneutered tom cats! Maisie had been answering to the name Maisie so I had to think quickly; KC sounds a bit like Maisie and are the initials of our wonderful vet, Kevin, so I began straightaway to call Maisie Casey (KC) and although he looked at me a bit oddly the first couple of times I called him that, he is probably thinking ‘thank goodness she finally noticed the equipment at the back end!’

I don’t know how old he is but my guess is about 1 - 2 years old; I don’t think he’s been micro-chipped. If his ‘people’ aren’t responsible enough to get him neutered, it’s highly debatable that they’d get him micro-chipped. He’s scheduled for the ‘snip’ on Wednesday and I’ll get Kevin to check to see if he is micro-chipped and how old he might be.

He’s been spending all his spare time either in the bathroom lying next to the radiatorOllie and Casey on the decking or in a box in the dining room which he seems to like. I don’t try to keep him here although he seems to like it here and Sam and Ollie aren’t terribly fussed by his presence. I’ve even seen Ollie kissing him from time to time so I’m hoping that if Casey does become a fully paid up member of the Daily Mewsers that his initiation ceremony was painless.   

Casey’s trip to the vet went well and Kevin agreed with me that he’s probably around 1 – 2 years old, so I’m going to give him 21st June as his birthday – the longest day – and I’ll say he’s 2 years old then. He didn’t have a micro chip but we weren’t really expecting him to have one.

Whilst he stays either in the bathroom or the box he’s chosen for his ‘day bed’ most of the time, he does disappear for part of the day and I wondered if he went back to his own house just to touch base with his people. He hasn’t yet reached the point where he is fully here 24/7; it took Sam a while to do that as well so there’s no point rushing him.

He’s a beautiful cat and I just wonder why he has chosen to live with us; why won’t he stay with his own family? Who knows why cats choose us – I know that Sam had a perfectly loving family just two doors away but he was on his own during the day for long periods at a time and I think he just got lonely. Maybe that’s what has happened with Casey.

Either way, we’re blessed to have another beautiful cat join the Daily Mews family and once again the Lazypaws Guest House for Discerning Felines lives up to its name!    

© Pauline Dewberry April 2013

 

  

A Cats Prayer

Lead me down all the right paths,
Keep me from fleas, bees, and baths.
Let me in should it storm,
Keep me safe, fed, and warm.

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