Cat Friends

This morning I was greeted with this photo of four years ago on my FaceBook Memories. 

 Yes, it's Josy Cat, our dearly departed, beloved kitty, spread out full length on my lap.  She has been gone three and a half years now, but I still miss her.

That reminded me that I was worried about our borrowed cat, Mewdini/Charlie. We had not seen him for weeks now. Either something had happened to him or his keepers had him isolated during the virus threat.

This photo of  Charlie (Mewdini) was obviously taken last April, because those yellow trillium are just about in that same stage now.

So I emailed Peter, our neighbor and Mewdini's owner, to see what was happening with our cat. I was anxious for an answer.

Meanwhile, I got going for the day, and I took my phone/camera with me to walk out to get the newspaper. The sun was shining and the robins were singing, and I lingered in the garden.

Down by the deck, I heard a persistent meowing. Was it Charlie? I called, "Kitty, kitty, kitty", and a big fluffy, brownish not-Charlie cat appeared. It wandered all around me, persisting in it's plaintiff meowing. It came on the deck and self-petted,  rubbing against all of the deck chairs.

It came closer and closer, while I sat and waited. It seemed a bit cranky that I wasn't petting it, but it wasn't quite ready. Stranger danger. 

 Finally it got close enough to be stroked. That seemed to go OK, so it jumped up on my bench, still self-petting

Well, OK, I guess I passed muster. We became friends. It enjoyed not having to rub against the furniture to get its strokes.  

In fact, it meowed quite unhappily when I stopped petting it and got up to leave. It followed me for a while, and then slipped through a fence gate. I think it might belong next door. (And yes, I washed my hands and my phone thoroughly after petting someone else's cat)

Later in the morning I heard back from Peter. "Thanks so much for your concern!  We are keeping Mewdini isolated during the quarantine....We know there are no reports of virus being spread through pets, but we don't know all of the homes Mewdini visits so we're just playing it safe. He prefers to run free but we keep him company and he's being well fed and getting exercise through various cat toys. I know he misses you and Tom. I'll send you some photos of him later."

I am relieved  that our sweet borrowed cat is being well taken care of and no harm came to him. My heart is warmed by our mutual love for this dear cat and by my caring neighbors who don't mind sharing. 

Just got this photo from Peter- Mewdini in quarantine.