Each morning at the crack of dawn Mary feeds the feral cats that hang around the house. She does this even before she has her first cup of coffee since the cats are hungry and waiting. Why do the feral cats hang around the house? They are waiting for their next meal. They get fed twice a day, breakfast and supper. Since there are four cats Mary uses a large platter to feed them so that there is room at the trough for them all. She piles on the dry meal and then spreads a layer of canned food on top of the dry meal as a treat. She puts plenty of food on the platter so that they will have plenty to eat and leave fully sated. That is why they probably keep coming back for more. The feral cats have all had their rabies shots and the females (3 of them) have been spayed. It was funny when we took the male cat Billy in for his rabies shot.
The veterinarian took the cat which was in the animal carrier down the hallway to a room far down the hall. Billy was there just to get a rabies shot, nothing else. We waited. And we waited. Five minutes go by. And then 10 minutes have gone by. What was taking so long? It was just a simple injection. The veterinarian was flustered because there was a dog in another exam room that was in a difficult labor and was having trouble giving birth, so he had his plate full of problems. After 15 minutes go by, he finally comes back down the hall looking more flustered than ever with Billy in the animal carrier. He told us that the cat had gotten loose and that he had one heck of a time chasing the cat all around the room trying to catch him. I noticed that at one time he had briefly come out of the room, got a towel, wrapped it around his arm, and then reentered the room. That should have been a clue as to what was going on. I guess that the cat was fighting back and so he used the towel to protect his arm. This was a new office and they had a special price for rabies vaccinations of only $5 and no charge for the office visit. Well, he earned his $5 that day. But enough about "The Adventures of Billy the Cat" and back to the cat's breakfast. Don't you think that they are fed on a really fancy platter that is painted to look like a fish?
As you can see, they licked the milk dish clean. It's as if the cats left this rose as a thank you to Mary for the warm milk on a cold day. I have no idea how the rose got there. In the garage is a bouquet of flowers.
Since the roses in this basket look the same as the one on the floor, we assume this is where the mischievous cat got it from. Was it:
Billy?
Or Charlotte
How could any cat this cute be the mischievous one. Or perhaps it was Betty?
Or last but not least there is Molly. Could it have been her?
Oh yeah, probably crazy Molly. I love this picture of her because her expression is so zany. Actually she had just eaten and was licking her lips in much the same way as we humans smack our lips after a good meal. Molly is actually a very sweet cat and follows me everywhere in the yard and is very friendly to me. I can pick her up but like most feral cats, she has a very short time limitation on how long she can be held. About 1 minute. After that she is squirming to get loose. When she starts her squirming I let her loose and give her a small food snack as a reward for letting me hold her. I worked very hard to gain her trust and I continue to work at keeping her trust. So, vote for one as to who got the rose out of the basket and put it next to the dish of milk. Was it:
Billy?
Betty?
Molly?
Actually, this is something Betty would do out of kindness. All of the cats have their own particular personality and this act of kindness would definitely fit Betty's personality. Did you happen to notice the names are 3 females and 1 male. Well this blog has gotten way too long. Have a good day and don't forget to cast your vote in the comments section. Lew
I can't imagine which cat left the rose for Mary. Jacky would've eaten it. We couldn't have real or fake flowers in a cat's reach. Once I forgot and Jacky jumped up on the kitchen counter and ate a tulip.
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