There are people who think that that cats do not speak, would you believe?
Well, let me tell you this is not so; we speak to each other but humans cannot understand our language. Some clever people have an inkling of course, especially those who love and have lived with us and who take the trouble to watch and listen.
At the Malcolm Cat Sanctuary we cats have lots of interesting stories to tell, and we pass the time (apart from sleeping, grooming and eating of course) talking to each other and exchanging stories of our lives and how we came to be here.
Only the other day, Izabelle, one of our newest girls, told us that she got lost one day, having strayed further from her usual hunting ground near her home. She was pregnant and looking for rats to eat and got so intent on her mission that she forgot to notice where she was going. Now this is unusual because we cats have a built-in radar system which tells us where we are, but I think her radar must have got damaged somehow, because there she was, lost and afraid, in a neighbourhood which she wasn’t familiar with.
‘What happened then?’ We asked. ‘Well, I wandered around and finally came across an abandoned shed, so I had my babies in there and soon had a new home all to myself. However, when the kittens had grown up they eventually left and I found myself alone again, so I began to think ‘I need some human company’. I went around the houses but got chased out of gardens, shouted at and things thrown at me, so I thought ‘I don’t need this’.
‘And what next?’ said Marmaduke, who is a lovely handsome ginger cat. ‘Well, would you believe I jumped in the boot of a car when the owners were not looking and when they found me, they took me to this cat sanctuary and left me in a box outside the gate. The next thing, I was taken inside by these kind people and I have been here since’.
‘What was your story?’ I asked Marmaduke (‘Duke’ for short). He replied in his rich tones: ‘I was living for a long time with this old lady who lived on her own, and we enjoyed each other’s company, but she sadly died and the family couldn’t take me in, so they asked someone who said they knew a person who worked at Malcolm’s sanctuary, so they brought me here. I don’t mind, because I have made lots of friends and the people here take good care of me – I don’t have to search for food and shelter, not like some cats I know, so I am very happy, although I do miss the evenings with the old lady as we sat watching the TV together’.
‘My story is a bit different from that’ said Sally, who is a young good-looking white chick. She told us that she was born in a nice warm shed in the garden of some people who had taken her mother in a few years ago, but they didn’t want any more cats, so they left her and her brothers and sisters in a cat box at the fence of this sanctuary. ‘So like ‘Duke’ I was taken in and life is not bad at all, but I would like to be settled with a family’ she said.
‘Oh I like it here’ said Sally, who is a little timid and shy. ‘ I can find my own space and not be bothered if I don’t want to talk and mix with the others, because it’s huge here and we all have sleeping sheds and little boxes to lie in – all day if we want. Nobody bothers us but they leave food and water, and like ‘Duke’ says, we don’t have to hunt for food, although I miss that sometimes. I don’t remember how I got here, but I think I was born here’.
I told the group that we are very lucky cats, we get fed twice a day, get checked out and treated for infections and if we are ill we get special treatment till we are better, or taken to the vet for specialist care and medicines. They feed us, we are kept warm in winter, and lots of people come to visit us. Some of them insist on giving us a cuddle and brush our coats, which is alright I suppose; it’s just their way of showing they love us.
Talking of which, I think it’s visiting time again – must dash and get my share of the treats they sometimes bring – good hunting you outside cats!
The moral of this story is to tell you human folks that cats should be nurtured, loved and taken care of. It is heart-breaking to see so many cats abandoned and ‘dumped’ on someone else’s doorstep – the cat sanctuaries (there are others too) should not be used to take in your unwanted cats. Be a responsible cat owner and have your cat neutered so that we reduce the number of stray and unwanted cats on this island. Take care of the cats in your community and start a scheme to have them neutered.
PS – note from Malcolm’s Cat Sanctuary – sorry we are full up at the moment, in fact we are over our permitted numbers, so until we can find permanent homes for more of our many cats, we can’t take in any more strays. However, feel free to visit us – we are open 7 days a week, 9.00 till 11.00 in the morning and 2.00 till 4.00 in the afternoons. We are always looking for helpers, so if you are interested, please contact us via our website
