Well, here at Chez Jodoin, we seem to have an adorable new porch mate. Mittens (as the Bean as dubbed him) is the super sweet gray cat with white paws (thus Mittens) that has begun the habit of sitting on our porch underneath the window peering in with those sad Dreamworks animation-like eyes. Of course, this habit of his is aided by the fact that Eric and the Bean feed her chicken and ham bits in the evening and our landlord feeds him some moist cat food in the morning.
Mittens is a petit little declawed feline with a red woven harness. He is obviously someone's cat, but I have yet to determine if he is really a stray. I would think by the fact that he is declawed, he should be sitting pretty on someone's window sill dreaming of successful squirrel catching and not haunting our side porch in search of attention and scoring free nibbles. My first guess, is he escaped right between the house coat clad knees of an adorable white haired old lady opening the door to get her morning paper or saved himself from the humiliation of being dressed up in Build-A-Bear princess clothes by a precocious little girl having a tea party.
Or, perhaps he is let in and out of his house and isn't lost at all. So what is a girl to do? I tried calling the animal shelter to find out if anyone reported a lost cat, but my sense of timing is awful. I either tried to call before they opened or in the one hour gap they are not around - my mind (which with everything going on in the past few weeks has resembled shredded swiss cheese) was just not able to remind me to call mid day. Fortunately, I had enough brain power enough in reserves to contact a friend (thanks, Crystal!) that works with the shelter - she suggested that I attach a note to the cat's harness and see if anything comes back.
Brilliant!!!
I remembered another friend of mine, Lela, while living in LA, had a cat that went out during the day. One evening, Sweet Pea, returned home wearing a brand spanking new collar. Either he had gotten a five law discount or that boy was hanging poolside with somebody else. Lela attached a note to the new collar to find out what was going on and VOILA! she had herself a homing cat. A note went out... a note came back.
When I got home that evening, there was little Mittens on the porch stoop rolling over for his hello belly scratch. After that little formality was completed, I dashed into the house to grab a small zip lock snack bag, painters tape, a note pad, pencil and the Bean. I scratched out a little message:
Does this sweet little boy belong to anybody? He's been spending a lot of time on our porch and we are curious if he has a daily home or is lost. {mobile number}
The Bean sat down on the ground and Mittens, seeing his opportunity for some attention, pounced over to her lap. While she was distracting him with scratches, I attached the note and he seemed none the wiser.
Not an hour later, I get a phone call from a number I didn't recognize and an unfamiliar voice said "Hi, someone attached a note to my cat."
Turns out Mittens is a Maxwell and he lives a street away. His owner says he comes home several times a day but he gets out when she opens the door to go outside or let the dog out and that he is very determined to get outside... so she has given up trying to keep him in. She said she tried to attach another note to his harness, but he wiggled out of her grasp and dashed away again... obviously she does not give heavenly kitty scratches like the Bean. I'm not going to lie - I was a bit disappointed that I got a phone call rather than a note back. What a unique way to get a pen pal!
Every morning since, I wake up, open the shades in the sitting room and there he is lying like a king in a sun patch on the porch, looking in the window and waiting for treats or scratched or both. I am wondering if I should send his owner notes home to let her know his daily intake of treats... you know... like they do in daycare :)
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