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Sophia Aldous
OUR OPINION
SOPHI E’S CHOICE
Some believe strongly in the “universal cat distribution system”; the idea that when the time is right, the universe will present prospective cat owners with their own feline, furry bundle of joy. I think y’all just need to spay and neuter your darned cats. Please forgive that outburst, for I realize it is not necessarily fair to my fellow pet owners. I’m just feeling a bit of the pressure from acquiring another cat in my domicile, seemingly at random. I think that has less to do with the universe and more that perhaps Newport has a feline overpopulation problem. You can always email me if you agree or think I’m full of taradiddle. All this preamble to say that I might have your cat living with me. I’m reaching out to the community at large to see if identification can be made on either of these opportunity-seizing snoots. While my landlord is most generous in allowing me to have pets, my own furballs very much enjoy being the only two in the house, especially Twigs, who is as close to a secular isolationist as any animal can get (in other words, she doesn’t like company).
Currently, besides my own kitties, there are two adorable usurpers who have made themselves comfortable in my domicile. Admittedly, it doesn’t help that I provide them with food and water, but please don’t judge me. Being a foodie myself, I find it hard to withhold from those in need, especially when they are sporting some effective baby schema.
With all that being said, let’s get started. I present to you: 1. Ceiling Cat – So named because it has taken up residence in the ceiling of the storage room adjacent to my apartment. My only theory is that said cat snuck up the stairs to my apartment when I had the door open unloading my car and has since made itself at home. I wasn’t aware of its existence until one evening I caught my own duo staring and growling at the ceiling. I looked up to see a fuzzy face and glowing eyes looking back at me, but not eager to approach and introduce itself. I’m not sure if Ceiling Cat is male or female and if it continues to use the litterbox in that room, I don’t care. While it will tolerate my presence and sniff my hand when I extend it in a peace offering, it will not allow me to pet it. It doesn’t pick fights with my cats and will retreat to the safety of the ceiling if it feels it’s being encroached on.
For all I know, Ceiling Cat may have a great personality that is on full display to humans whom it may live with in a place it already calls home. If that is the case, I believe you should all be reunited in time for the Christmas holiday.
2. Lou – I know, I’m on trickier ground with this one because I gave him a name. Lou and mine’s re- lationship is a bit more complicated. About three to four years ago, Lou showed up on my porch looking somewhat bedraggled and wet (it had been raining). He had no intention of getting better acquainted at first, since he would hiss and run away from me if I got too close for his liking. Like the sucker I am, I eventually started offering him an al fresco dinging option.
There were days when I wouldn’t see him and I figured he had a permanent crash pad somewhere in the neighborhood.
Several months into our acquaintance, he started to creep into my place when I had the doors open to let in fresh air. Again, he wouldn’t let me pet him and he kept his distance from my cats, who also largely avoided him (except for my orange chonk Tich, who is a curious sort).
Very slowly, he became less standoffish, not immediately seeking the nearest exit when I would walk past him.
Eventually, he started playing with the plethora of cat toys in my living room.
The nature of our dynamic got a burst of speed one night when he showed up with a hole in his neck, bordering on infection. I still don’t know what happened, whether he was caught by a dog or accidentally cut himself on a fence or some such thing, but it was obvious that it was a wound that wasn’t going to heal on its own. After luring him into a cat carrier, my friend Liz Coon, who is a friend to stray/abandoned animals, took him to a spay and neuter clinic in Spokane where the likelihood of Lou ever being involved in a paternity suit was negated and his wound was washed and treated. Upon his return, I attempted to keep him in my apartment until he was fully recovered, but one night he snuck out of my two-story window Mission Impossible style and Tom Cruised his way to freedom.
Since then, Lou has shown himself to be an affectionate, humorous character who has no problem reaching up with his front paws and placing them on your thigh or backside if he’s looking for attention. It’s hard for me to believe he doesn’t already have a family, but then I also find it difficult to believe that said family would let him wander around with a gaping, maggot-riddled wound (maybe finances got in the way, maybe he got sacred and ran away and they couldn’t catch him, I don’t know. I want to give people the benefit of the doubt).
Despite his amiability toward me, he has never totally warmed to my Tich and Twigs, which can result in the occasional growl and yowl fest. He would do well in a home where he was the only cat.
If perchance you recognize either Ceiling Cat or Lou and want them home, or if you would be able and willing to give them a good home, please get in touch with me. My email is sophianewportminer@ gmail. com, or you can call 509-447-2433. If no one answers, please leave a message with your contact information.
