Eric's New Cat

This month, I found myself without a cat for the first time in more than thirty years. Well, almost. Rouge, my beautiful Maine Coon that Anne bought before she died turned up missing. I searched the neighborhood but couldn’t find her. She was always a stay-at-home cat so I suspect the worst. She was getting up in age and our weather here in central Oklahoma the hottest I can ever remember.

That left me with the beautiful white cat named Fang. Problem is, Fang belongs to a neighbor down the street that commutes to Pennsylvania. He was missing his cat and finally took it to Pennsylvania with him

We have a doggy door that leads into our garage with boxes stacked high from many moves. Rouge and Fang stayed there during last winter. One of our coldest in decades. Go figure! A young feral tom cat stayed with them. I would see him occasionally and I called him Goldie.

After Rouge went missing and Fang moved to Pennsylvania, I continued putting cat food out every night. Last night, I saw Goldie when I returned from my walk but he wouldn’t let me pet him. Tonight, I had drinks at Louie’s with friends Terry and Jerry. They always come by the house afterwards to visit with Marilyn. It was dark, after nine, when they left.

After feeding Patch, I saw Goldie, standing by the feeding bowl, looking at me as if to ask, “Where’s my food?”

He didn’t have long to wait. I quickly fetched him a meal fit for the king he is. When I checked on him minutes later, he was standing near the front porch. When I went out and sat down, he joined me, demanding that I stroke his back and tail, and rub behind his ears. I was happy to comply. I gave him a few cat treats but he seemed more interested in human affection, something I continued to bestow on him for a half-hour or more.

While we sat there, a young fox came up to the unfinished cat food, not even realizing I was only ten feet or so away. When he finally saw me looking at him, he ran off until later. Goldie wasn’t even disturbed by his presence.

I know there are cat lovers and cat haters. I understand the former and can’t conceive of the latter because I haven’t been the same these past few weeks without a kitty. Strangely, I had planned to visit the pound this weekend and bring home a new cat. Maybe I still will, but first I intend to see how my new kitty adapts to being Top Cat. Hey, I’ll try and get some pictures to post tomorrow night.

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