Littlest Hobo
It seems I have no choice in the matter.
I now have a new member of my family.
Part of me is happy. Another part of me is sad - I gave away two adorable kittens, for job reasons, and those reasons are still there. I feel a little guilty, because the reality is if I can take in a cat, then I could have kept the other two.
That said, I was most definitely not looking for a new cat. I wanted a neighbours cat to come around once in a while, have a bit of a cuddle, and then bugger off. Much like Guinness, my next-door neighbours cat, who used to be best friends with Mister, and often came to see me when I got home from work, and would come in the house for half an hour or so.
I thought this little guy would be the same, after he came in for 10 minutes last Wednesday.
When I got home from work on Thursday, one of the neighbours came over - she was asking me something about the drains, because she has been having trouble, and the plumber had said it might affect the other people in the street (not that I have noticed!).
I asked her about “the noisy cat”, and if she knew he belonged to. She gave me a very strange look, and said, “We thought he belonged to you!”
Apparently he is known to some as Cheeky Ted, because when my next-door neighbour gets home from work some nights, she finds him sitting happily in her house alongside Guinness, after having eaten all his food. He has also been camping out in many of the houses.
He has been in the street for months. He was definitely here when I had Madam and Mister, because I remember one night calling for them both, and Madam came running, but there was no sign of Mister. There was, however, an awful racket coming from under one of the cars down the street, so Madam and I went to investigate - and there was this Mister look-alike.
This morning I took him to the vets, to see if he was chipped. Also, the poor thing has been sneezing, and has a runny eye, so I was worried he had cat-flu.
No chip.
£37 for an injection and some eye-drops though, and back again in a month to give him his regular jabs.
The vet actually asked me if I was going to keep him. What else could I do? Say no, you take him and have him put down….. Although that probably wouldn’t happen. He is the most good natured cat I have ever come across, I imagine if he went to a rescue place he’d be very easy to rehome.
But I couldn’t. Little sod has completely stolen my heart.
So, have bought some food bowls, and a pack of 4 play mice for him. Even the check account girl in Asda said that my cat was going to have a spoiled Christmas!
He is funny, he is still very insecure. He eats, but only when I am in the kitchen with him. If I leave, then he follows me. He has today spent some time in the bedroom sleeping on his own rather than laying down where ever I may be - but of course, given the whole expanse of bed to lie on, he curls up on my lacey knickers I had left there after taking them off the radiator!!
I have decided to call him Hobo.