New semi-pet cat in Area 2

I was with btmao on the evening rounds.

At Sasha’s, we found her at her usual spot on the staricase by the roadside… waiting for her “owner” to return or maybe just bided goodbye.

We called her and fed her at her usual feeding spot. As she was tucking in, we heard loud meows. It was coming from the grilled-covered drains running right along the spot.

The aroma of the food probably lured a hungry kitty into revealing itself. It was dark away from the feeding spot, but btmao could identify it as a cat she’s seen once, at a distance, some time back.

It was wary and calling its hunger out, but also keeping away from us. We tried to get it to come out of the drain by opening one of the hatches, but we needn’t have worried. The cat had come out at the other end of the drain, approaching with the usual cautious daring of a skittish cat driven by hunger to approach strangers.

The new cat is a girl, probably about 8-10 months old. No pictures – the cam in the phone gave… in faithful accordance with Murphy’s law, so I’ll try to describe her as accurately as possible in lieu of a photo. She was white, with a lope-sided face mask that covered partially her left forehead, and the front of her ears, which were untipped. The whole of her right face around the eye was covered. On her back, there was a patch about 8cm in diameter below her shoulder blades. Further down, and a little to the left was another. Her tail was a black bob. She, unsurprisingly, was wearing a collar, a red one with black edging/trimming. Also unsurprising was how grubby her white coat look.

Even more unsurprising was her hunger. She was obviously wary and perhaps fearful of Sasha. But hunger drove her and she dared to try to eat from Sasha’s plate. As with cats that had not eaten for a long time, she made some of that funny noise as she gulped and snatched food.

After some posturing between Sasha and this cat, they settled into eating for a bit, and then Sasha decided she wanted no part of it, and left.

The new girl quickly, and warily, gulped down everything, and quickly scooted away from the plates.

Then she continued to sit out of reach and resumed calling in that plaintive way that cats seem to cry when they’re lost… or abandoned.

While it is true that a cat, no matter how well-fed, would be interested in food regardless, this girl was calling, and she was ravenous, and after eating, she resumed calling. No properly cared-for pet cat would display such desperation for food.

Damn irresponsible pet ‘ownership’.

(Of course we’d have to try to arrange for her to go to the vet if she sticks around – have her opened up and if not sterilised, take away her mojo, and get her ear tipped. Poor girl, especially if she’s already sterilised – though i HIGHLY doubt it.)