Thursday, September 30, 2010

Madame M.


One day in July Madame M. appeared on our porch. She was skinny and skittish, but not too shy. She probably was too hungry to be really scared.

My husband gave her some left-overs and she did not even bother to touch the "food". We had no choice, but to run to a store and buy some cat food. We decided to buy some dry food first and see if she would touch it. She did. She also loved my organic, lactose-free milk.

She would come over, have her food. She would demand that we scratched her back. Then she would have some more food, roll in dirt, get some more scratches to finally finish her meal and get some rest in the rose bush.

She would disappear for hours only to come back in the evening to have her meal and the scratches. We are allowed to pet and to scratch her. Only then would she eat the food.

Few days later we decided to buy her the "wet" food. We both stood in the supermarket in front of the cat food shelf pondering what she might like. We got juicy chicken, juicy beef, and some fish. The cat almost lost her mind when she tried the chicken delight. She also loved the beef, but she wouldn't touch the fish. Not even the succulent giant prawns that we bought for our dinner. I gather, we spoiled the alley cat. She does not like the dry food anymore. she would eat it, but would scream for the juicy chicken.

She goes hunting and catches tiny lizards. She even caught a bird and brought it as a gift for my husband.
In no time she started to explore our house. At first she only took a few steps inside and would then run out as fast as she could. When she saw that it was safe to enter, she would go around and stay a bit longer. Now, she comes inside to have her breakfast and goes under the table to take a nap. On some days she does not even have the desire to go out again so we leave her at home. But when we come back for lunch, she dashes out like mad only to come back immediately to see if we give her something to eat. A really funny cat.

No cat in the neighborhood is safe. She chased away every single one. We belong to her. So does the porch. So does the house!

Madame M. is such a sweet creature. She is still very young and very playful. In no time she managed to leave her paw prints on our hearts. She is waiting patiently at the door every morning for us to wake up. She drops by for lunch sometimes and is back for dinner. If she is a bit late we worry that someone might have hurt her or that her wild instinct took over and she decided to abandon us. She is a free creature and we do not want to enslave her. But we both wish she stayed with us for ever.

The cold season is coming and we will have to figure out what to do with her. Hopefully she will be comfortable indoors at night and during the day when we are away...

Dominique Allmon