The Wanderer Returns

The Wanderer Returns

I once wrote a poem for Mum, about one of our cats, called "Where Does My Cat Get To?"

She had been worried about him, as he had been out for quite a while, and had not returned home when she expected him: 

Where Does My Cat Get To?

Where does my cat get to

In the middle of the night?

I hear those moggies yowling

And I'm sure he's in a fight!

But in the morning home he comes

With tail and head held high; 

His whiskers are a-gleaming

There's a glint in his green eyes.

Well, I guess he's free to wander

And come and go at will;

But when he weaves around my feet

I know he loves me still!

And when he rolled in the next morning, she was mightily relieved. 

Snowy, however, worried us because he - or she - had never stayed away for such a long time. I don't give up hope easily, and it was wonderful to have faith fulfilled when one night I looked at the cat flap in the back door and realised there was a little nose pressed up against it!

Snowy came over the threshold and was so hungry, he demolished two sachets of cat food in quick succession, followed by a portion of Munchies. 

Where had he been? Truly a case of "If only they could talk...!" what tales Snowy would tell. 

Since then, over the past few days, Snowy has been a regular visitor, but he has definitely lost weight after such a long absence. We are trying to build him up a bit, with lots of tasty treats. After he has had his fill, he still goes off to sit on the trellis over the fish pond, clearly hoping for a goldfish to leap obligingly out of the water, and straight into his paws! 

Although he seems  able to jump up onto the fish pond, we've also noticed he is limping a bit, preferring to keep his front paw off the ground. If it was possible for us to get him to the vet, we would book an appointment for him, but as this lameness has occurred before, and he did recover after some time, so we hope that will also be the case this time.

On some days, he has taken to sitting on one of the conversation chairs, soaking up the sun during the really hot days; when the heat has got too fierce, he takes refuge and sits on the little shelf underneath the conversation table, so he is still able to enjoy the fresh air whilst protected from the worst of the midday sun. 

One afternoon, he was sitting on the chair, and looking for all the world like a film star: I had no idea how long he would stay in that position, and then I had to run upstairs to fetch the camera, but when I got back, Snowy was still there, still posing, and reminiscent of that famous film star's line: "I'm ready for my close-up now, Mr de Mille..."

I took about half a dozen photos of Snowy, starting out quite a long way away, so that I wouldn't frighten or startle him. Gradually, I got closer, inching my way forward, and putting the zoom button into play. I ended up with two pictures that I think show what a beautiful cat Snowy is, and just how calm he was!

Holding Snowy's gaze

And now I am as close as I can dare to be -

Snowy can relax!