(All photos were taken from August 2015 through August 2016 - mostly at my home.)
Have you ever seen those movies where a young (usually single woman) “owns” a cat that is not her cat? Some women will even feed the cat they don’t own! To me the most hilarious example is from the movie, The Heat. Melissa McCarthy brings the “runaway” cat to Sandra Bullock’s new home saying she found her cat. Then as she watches Sandra Bullock's face, she finally says, “That isn’t your cat is it?”
I assume that happens in real life and it happened to me! This blog is the story of my “love affair” with my neighbor’s cat. The cat became so established in my home that visiting friends, would say, “I didn’t know you had a cat." They would see the cat run from our home when they entered or run across the lawn to see us when we came home. Then I had to say, “No, it’s not my cat. It’s my neighbor’s cat.”
I dedicate this blog to my wonderful, lively and gracious, friend and neighbor, and her family. She generously allowed me to “share” her cat. In the first days, I kept thinking my neighbor would come over and demand her cat back or accuse me of “stealing” her cat; but she never did. In my neighbor’s delightful, open and accepting manner, she would laugh at the situation and at her capricious cat. And for that I am eternally grateful! I had a blissful year of healing love from a beautiful cat.
Here is how the story goes. Our neighbors had two dogs, and a sassy cat.
We spent a lot of time at each other’s homes. The three dogs (including ours) felt comfortable at either home. On perhaps two or three occasions, their skittish, but curious, cat would drift over to our house to meow for a meal or sometimes even be petted by the owner. The cat always avoided my husband and I.
Very tragically, within about a year, all three dogs passed away. The first day of being alone at home in retirement, I remember feeling a deep sense of loss. All over again, I felt the pain of missing the loving presence in our home of our beloved dog of fifteen years.
With the absence of our dog at our house, my neighbor’s cat began to lie on a chair on our fire deck. Naturally, I would sit and talk to her and unbelievably she would let me pet her!
In the miserably hot months of August and September, I often had our front door open. Eventually, the cat would come in and sit or lie on the rug inside our front door!
Various classic cat sitting poses on our front doorstep…
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| "the vase" |
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| "tucked feet" |
And so the cat was in! Of course, I couldn’t resist spending time with her and paying attention to her… My neighbor and I hypothesized the cat was establishing a larger territory. Perhaps a visiting friend captured it all when he intuitively remarked that animals somehow know what is needed.
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| "on her side" (dog-like) |
Soon the cat was a nearly daily fixture in our house! She stayed only two or three hours at a time but later would often spend the night. No, I didn’t ever feed her!
I thought I was allergic to cats; I had no problems.
I thought I didn’t like cats; she was fascinating and in many ways like a dog!
Here are my “watching out for nature” learnings.
A cat can be like a dog:
- They both spend hours SLEEPING (her favorite visiting activity)! As I loved to photograph our sleeping dog, I found I loved to photograph the sleeping cat!
Over a few minutes time…
Dog-like poses…
- shutting out the light....
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| in the sun... |
- Demanding…I had a big dog who would come up to me and lean on me to get me to go to bed. A cat, in typical audacity, will boldly walk on and sit on your computer!
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I didn’t know cats ate grass!
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Some observed differences between cats and dogs…
- kneading and purring. (Is it a cat’s way to wag its tail?) Both cats and dogs make motions in their sleep but kneading is an uniquely cat motion!
- interminable explorers.
- acrobatic athletes. Unfortunately, I didn't capture her three-bound runs across the wide lawn between our homes or some of her unbelievable jumps to a dresser, a high pass through, the railing…
- perpetual cleaners. This cat was so thorough and fastidious at cleaning. I could watch her for hours!
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| - gnawing to clean with toes spread! |
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| - dirty paws... |
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| - pristine clean paws... |
Her white areas, including her paws after some attention, would be so beautifully pristine. And she was always so soft!!!
I thought the black-and-white colored cat must be significant so I did some research. The coloring is noteworthy! Sources about "tuxedo cat" coloring:
I am posting this blog (with prior permission of my neighbor) about this exceptional cat for this week as the family (and cat!) just moved out-of-state! :(
The house across the lawn is empty. The pillow on my porch is empty. There is a large void in my heart.
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| Settling into her new home… |
Again, I send boundless thanks to my neighbor, and her family, for all the years of fun, friendship, and love! And especially for sharing their cat with me! (Thanks to my neighbors for these last two photos.)
So continue to “watch out for nature,” even at home! You can learn a lot from your own pets, and maybe even a neighbor’s!
