High Drama in the Village

We like our part-time cat arrangement. We like the fact that Belle likes to occasionally wander through our apartment. We like taking care of the kitties when their mother is out of town. We do not like the nosy neighbors who live down the street.

I'm sure they are well-meaning people (at least I'm reasonably sure), but they don't seem to understand basic pet-etiquette. Cardinal rule #1: Don't feed other people's pets. Their owner (and as always I use that term loosely when referring to cats) is responsible for feeding them. Just because the cat comes into your house does not suddenly give you the right to feed it. Water is okay, especially on hot days, but definitely no food. If you're concerned that the cat is not getting fed enough at home (and believe me, Belle is the picture of health), then talk to the owner about it.

Cardinal Rule #2: Social time should be limited. Remember this isn't your cat. Don't keep the cat inside your apartment all day (it's owner might get worried for starters). Besides, it's good to share. Belle is a very social animal, and has several other neighbors to keep tabs on.

Okay. So why the rant all of a sudden. A recent break-in of a critter of some sort (we're thinking raccoon) has prompted us (at the owner's request) to institute kitty lock-down. Typically the cats have free range of their house, coming and going as they wish through an upstairs window. Apparently some other critter discovered this window, and two nights this past week, ransacked the kitchen looking for food. Doggie treats hidden in the cupboard were found and devoured. The cat food on the counter was broken open and snacked on (we're now keeping said cat food in the fridge). Etc. The kitties are both fine, so I assume they either weren't home, or made a speedy getaway when the intruder arrived.

Yesterday about 4:00 p.m. I closed the kitty-access-window. Lulu was in the house at the time, but Belle was out and about (as she is wont to do). No problem, we figured she would show up later in the evening and we could put her inside. No such luck. At 10:00 p.m. I went out and made an effort to find Belle, calling her name, looking all around her house, etc., but she didn't show. Now we've known for awhile that the aforementioned nosy neighbors have been keeping Belle inside their apartment much more than we think they should (not to mention the feeding issue), so we figured they probably had Belle inside since it was rainy outside. So we went to bed, oblivious of the drama that was to ensue shortly thereafter.

Now the stories are a bit confusing, but somehow it involved the nosy neighbors trying to figure out how to get Belle back into her house. They got Pete involved (who lives in a studio apartment attached to the back of Belle and Lulu's house, and who also knows that we are taking care of the house/pets but did not bother to knock on our door), the owner was called, etc.

Time to institute plan B. We're going to try leaving the window open during the day and just shut the cats in for the night (don't worry they are litter-boxed trained), but if Belle is missing, we will knock on the neighbors door and say something like: "Belle needs to go home now. It's past her curfew. Now hand her over!" Let's just hope it doesn't get ugly.

Just call me The Cat Whisperer

Some of you may recall that the last time we lived in German Village we were adopted by the neighbor's cat. There were no screens on the kitchen window when we moved in, and if we left the window open we would be visited by Belle.

We wondered how Belle would react to our moving back to German Village (and only one unit away from our previous address). On moving day, I came over first with a carload of stuff and on my second trip out to the car, there was Belle waiting on the doorstep as if we had never left.

We've become great friends with the neighbor (Sarah) who 'owns' Belle (and really, if you know anything about cats you know that they are never 'owned'), and recently she took a new job that involves extended travel to Florida. We were a natural choice for house/kitty care while she is gone, and this has allowed me to get better acquainted with her other cat, Lulu.

It was a lot more work to get Lulu to warm up to me. Despite the fact that Sarah says the Lulu is the affectionate one, and Belle is the more aloof kitty, my experience with these cats has been entirely the opposite. Belle will come over and if you let her fall asleep in your lap. The one time that Lulu came in the front door she freaked out completely.

When I first started going over to Sarah's apartment to feed the cats, Lulu was nowhere to be seen or found. Of course, Sarah leaves one window propped partially open so that the cats can come and go as they please, so there was always the possibility that she just happened to be out when I arrived.

One day I decided to rush upstairs to that window when I first came in the front door, and sure enough Lulu was making her escape out onto the roof. I've been patient, and that patience has paid off. For a couple of days, Lulu would sit in the window and look at me at the bottom of the steps, but if I started up the stairs then she would run off. Then she started letting me come up the stairs, and before too long, she let me pet her a little bit. Now when I come to check on the cats, Lulu actually comes down the stairs to greet me.