In God We Trust

Update on yesterday's demolition:

Orangie on House Before Demolish

After fretting about the house being demolished yesterday, where I feed about five cats daily on the porch that once was, I received an offer from the girl I told you about days ago, Maree.  This little itty bitty (but a very pretty itty bitty!) thing offered to meet me somewhere, drive together and move the board to the empty lot location that is my only other option.  Thank you Maree!  We met, drove there together on my lunch from work, and while Maree waited in the car for me, I knocked on the open door of the house that the board was in its garage (is that proper wording???).  A young man came to the door – he was obviously working on the inside of the newly renovated house in the middle of a very poor section of the city – looks a bit odd.  I asked him if I could take the board, he had no problem and even offered to carry it for me – I couldn’t have done it myself.  We shook hands, I told him what I do and he thought that was commendable.  Maree and I went over to the lot first to move the board against a chain link fence and my plan was to come back in the morning to bring a board to place under to set the food dishes on so that they wouldn’t be sinking in the long grass.  We then went over to talk to the workers in the demolished house lot.  We asked one of the men about my cat carrier I had placed on the porch there on Sunday, with straw stuffed in it and a towel over it to keep the wind out.  He said it was gone, demolished with the house.  I kind of scolded him and he said he would scold the other guy there, as he was the one that did it.  I asked him if he checked the inside of the house before demolishing, and he said he and a city inspector went through it and found three dead cats, chased out three live ones, and a couple of raccoons.  I was grateful that they checked first, but sad for the dead cats.  You have to wonder how they died.  This morning I brought a board to place under the other, and a shelter that Maree’s husband made for me to place there.  Its really pathetic, but will do for now.


Sparkles & Limpy 2

A lick on your cheek, a rub against your ankle, a slow, soft blink … these are just a few of the ways a cat tells you it loves and trusts you,  In the outdoor stray/feral world, they mostly distrust you.   Over the years, many cats have come to trust me, but its taken a long while for some of my old timers.  Big Red now runs to my car to greet me and follows me all the way to the dishes, Red, after having me try to unsuccessfully throw him into a carrier to go to a new home, distrusted me for a long time – he took off not to be seen for months, and then stayed far away from me when he was back.  He now waits for me to come each day, and waits for his pat pats.  Orangie – I had him neutered last fall, and he stayed as far away from me as he could get until Ieft, now lets me pick him up.  But this morning I earned another cat’s trust.  Limpy #2.  He is the cat that was injured on 4^th and Pennsylvania, and for a long time, Laura had tried to trap him, get him neutered, and have his foot looked at, but he never fell for the bait.  So he limped on and on.  Then one day he didn’t limp. All the while, he stayed as far as possible away from human contact.  He would wait until I was in my car to go get the food I left for him and Sparkles.  He has been getting closer and closer lately, until this morning he actually let me pet him!  Such a great feeling!  The best proof of love is trust.