Nobody's Cats

Our neighbourhood has become a haven for stray cats. They have in fact made a house at the end of the cul-de-sac their permanent home. I see them wandering in the garden and on some occasions have seen them being fed by the owner of the house. They are quite comfortable there and have raised dozens of kittens upstairs and downstairs, so I was told by the owner! Some of them use our garden as a freeway to the buildings at the back of our house while some like to doze under the shade of our bougainvillea in the afternoons.

However, one particular cat seems determined to be our house cat. Billy, as we have named him, is jet black with yellow eyes. Mum says that he must have escaped from a witch's den but I like to think of him as good luck. Every morning when we open our front door, he runs in and sprawls on our carpets. Then he follows us everywhere hoping for a morsel or two for breakfast. When he's had his fill, he will curl up somewhere until it's time to eat again!

Billy enjoying our carpet

Another stray, Henrietta (originally named Henry as we mistook her to be a him) also comes mewing at our doorstep for food. She seems to be good friends with Billy and I often see the two of them running around together. The poor thing unfortunately is often the target of amorous tom cats in the area and she has been pregnant twice in the last eight months! The other evening, she craftily brought her brood of four kittens (from which pregnancy I'm not sure) to the house for dinner. They were so adorable that we hadn't the heart to turn them away without giving them something to munch. Now they've become our regular dinner guests!

Henrietta - "Is dinner ready?"

One of Henrietta's kittens

Feeding time

I had a rude awakening the other morning. Billy had jumped up on my bed and was purring loudly in my ear, presumably demanding his breakfast. Really, the darned cat is getting too bossy for words but I must say he is growing on me. When he didn't appear in our house for one full day, I found I actually missed him!