Anyone who has been brought up with, and trained by, cats knows that you don't own them. It is more that they choose to live with you if they like the arrangements.

Shortly after I moved here I discovered what a cat friendly street this was. Even the few dogs around seemed to at least tolerate the many, large felines in the road. It wasn't that most houses had a cat, more the fact that a few houses had several cats who liked to distribute themselves among the immediate neighbourhood so that no cat lover missed out.

Night time visitors

Often working late on new designs, I soon became aware that on cold nights several neighbours' cats would enter the cat flap and take up residence under the workroom table against the radiator.  They weren't always friendly cats! One in particular would start growling as he walked down the kitchen. This was just to warn me not to try any funny stuff, like stroking him, unless I had a spare pilchard ready in my other hand.

When at home my own two ginger cats were very respectful of older cats. However most evenings they themselves popped out in an attempt to find  better entertainment at a neighbour’s house.

Blossom

One of my own cats kept ringing Blossom in for tea. Everybody in our road knew him but no one knew where he'd come from.  Three years later, after he lost a fight with the dog fox (Blossom maintained it was a draw) I found myself explaining to the vet that he wasn't mine, just an acquaintance really. Then he decided to move in permanently and the presents started! There were mice, birds, squirrels and three different species of bat.  Blossom never hurt a bat, he just thought they would brighten up my life. The ginger brothers had the same idea about a toad and every autumn one of them would carefully carry the protesting toad into the house and present it to me. Many years later Blossom is still here, probably over 20 years old, thinner and quite cantankerous.  He still chases squirrels even if.they are faster than he is nowadays.

We used to have a green woodpecker in our tree-lined road. It moved to the park after I found it beating a tattoo on the inside of the workroom window. Three pairs of innocent eyes assured me it had just hopped in through the cat flap of its own accord. They obviously wanted to know why I didn't just put it down on the floor and and they would help it hop out the same way.

Other cats

Pudding moved in shortly afterwards and is black, plump and nervous of strangers.  He'd lived rough for several years.

And then there is Jago, a massive tabby who quite recently declined to move when his owner did.  He auditioned several homes in the road.and then chose mine because he liked the other cats.  The fact that, to a cat, they didn't like him, was immaterial he just persevered.

Three cats plus the occasional visitor are just about manageable but nature abhors a vacuum and the invisible sign saying "homeless felines are welcome here" is probably still where I can't find it. Any day now I expect to find a nocturnal visitor has stayed for breakfast and it will be back to asking the neighbours if they are missing one of their cats. Hopefully..

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