Wild cats!
Speckles the Stray
Love my cats. Love looking after my cats. I'd like to think that they love me in return. Surely this is not too much to ask when I provide lovely food and good company?
An update on Speckles the feral stray cat, supposedly my wild cat. Since declaring him officially dead (oops) when he went missing for ten days, he now comes for his meal every night, and even the occasional breakfast.
He has chubbier cheeks, and a well covered body. He gives me lots of bunty body-smooches, and will rub in my legs if I'm standing up. I still get a few hisses, but lots of chirps when I arrive and say hello to him. And I do get the occasional claw-swipe and elbow bite. His eyes (which widen in alarm) give away these wilder intentions, and I can usually get out of the way.
So I am not allowed to get all soppy and gushy. Speckles is still what he is - a wild thing (and yes, he makes my heart sing). I have been feeding him for over a year. Devotion, that's what it's called.
A tom-cat?
Still don't know if he is a tom-cat or not. Just don't know what 'look' I should be looking for. Am too shy to ask Ms Google to show me some images. Dread to think what she might come up with!
Speckles the Wild Cat
Meanwhile, Red Fred is not a wild cat, right? He is a loving, tame, friendly domestic cat, right? Today he appeared out of the garden, crying. Awwww - he loves me! He wants some attention - what a sweetie! A proper cat, not like that wild thing I sit with on the cottage verandah, who puts up with me patting his head, as long as I'm careful and don't make any rapid movements.
Fred on a Gate Post
So I sat on a purple garden seat and Fred jumped onto my lap, purring and smooching. Such a lovely feeling. Being a caring cat-mother, I then though I'd help him get some sticky biddi-bids out of his fur. I was being so gentle. Bad move. Ouch! He took a serious swipe, I managed to flick him through the air onto the grass. He landed, looked a bit puzzled, then proceeded to wash his bottom. As one does, when one is a non-wild cat.
Non-Stick plasters
Ouch! Old skin, scratches, blood... To make matters worse, my plasters wouldn't stick properly. So I went into the water race to cool off and do some wet weeding. Didn't want to get dirt in my wounds. Humph.
Fred the Cat
So there's a wild cat inside Fred, and there's a non-wild cat inside Speckles? Am thinking the proportions might be more similar than I'd thought!