snapshots from suburbia II

Thursday 11.30am A stray cat has adopted us. He wandered into the garden five days ago and hardly seems to have left since. This is probably because the wife has been feeding him. She felt sorry for his ragged looks, matted fur and possibly even the black mark beneath his nose which, on a human, would probably be called a beauty spot. Now it's time for us to gather him off and take him to the RSPCA from where we adopted our two cats last August.

They scan him and find no chip. All cats that they process are 'chipped' so they can be traced back to owners. No such luck for this moggy. Sadly they won't even take it in as there's no room in their shelter. Abandoned cats are ten a penny it seems, or maybe twenty at the current rate of exchange. They send us away with a paper collar that we have to fit to the cat; it says that the animal has been reported as a stray and that if he isn't then the real owners should contact them or us.

Thursday 20.00 The stray cat has been sneaking into the house. It has already removed the paper collar.