El Gato

I've been going through a lot of cat food lately. Miss Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears (The backyard cats) haven't gained any weight, so I was a little stumped as to where the cat food was going. Then last week after putting their food out, I stopped in the doorway to pick up some trash that had blown in. When I looked up, there was a strange cat helping itself to Lindsay and Britney's food. What made it more disturbing is that both of my cats were standing back, allowing this to happen. It's a pretty white kitty, with dark fur around its eyes and ears. Pretty or not, I am not taking on another cat. Not when I'm already trying to find a home for the two I already have. So I opened the door and shouted at new kitty. It ran away. The next day, after I put the food out, again new kitty showed up. This time a little more cautiously approaching the food. Again, I chased it away. Now every morning it is like a ritual. I put the cat food out, my cats start eating, and I chase new kitty. Unfortunately, as soon as I go back inside, a big cat party breaks out. That's the problem with cats. You feed them once, and they keep coming back. Sometimes forever.

Mark has a friend who lives about forty miles away. He likes to come up to our town once a week to party. Three weeks ago, on Saturday morning, I awoke to find Mark's friend sleeping on the couch. I like the guy well enough, so he was welcome to crash there overnight. In fact I got up early and made breakfast for everybody. French toast, sausage, and coffee. The next Saturday I again awoke to find the friend sleeping on the couch. Again, breakfast was made. This Saturday when I got up to walk the dogs in the morning, I was not happy with what I saw on the sofa. So I walked the dogs, fed the dogs and cats, and then went back to bed. When Mark rolled over and asked if I was going to make breakfast, I told him the story of the backyard cat.