VegCharlotte

Living Vegan in Charlotte, NC

Bowie

Bowie, a beautiful white cat with one green, one blue eye, and a slight sneer, showed up at my house one morning. As stray cats/dogs/birds/possums/ponies are wont to do. We had never seen him in the neighborhood before. No collar. He appeared hungry, so we gave him breakfast. He ate greedily, with our ginger Prince…

Catherine of VegCharlotte
1–2 minutes
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Bowie, a beautiful white cat with one green, one blue eye, and a slight sneer, showed up at my house one morning. As stray cats/dogs/birds/possums/ponies are wont to do.

We had never seen him in the neighborhood before. No collar. He appeared hungry, so we gave him breakfast. He ate greedily, with our ginger Prince Harry glaring at him through the window.

Bowie came back that night for dinner.

Soon, he had a routine. Breakfast, then lounging in the back garden. Apparently taking a neighborhood stroll at lunch before returning in the afternoon to antagonize Prince Harry through the window. Dinner. Then, bedtime on the screened-in porch. In the winter, we put out warm blankets for him to snuggle into.

This continued for several years. Normally I keep my cats indoors, but I already shared my house with three cats, two dogs, and a furry, somewhat humanoid creature that made a lot of noise. Since Bowie seemed perfectly capable of looking after himself, and rarely left the back yard except for his lunchtime stroll, this situation worked well for both of us.

Several years later, we learned this was actually my neighbor’s cat, who had given him the unimaginative and unsuitable name of “George.” Two years before, the family had adopted a dog and “George” had NOT been amused. So he stalked out, returning only for lunch everyday. That was why no “Lost Cat” signs were ever posted.

Oopsie.

3 responses to “Bowie”

  1. uglyvegankitchen Avatar
    uglyvegankitchen

    I just laughed outloud! That cat figured out how to get his needs met 😆

    Reply
  2. Mavis Jones Avatar
    Mavis Jones

    We had 2 cats like that when I was a kid with the exception that they were our cats. It started out they would disappear for a day or two then come home. Eventually, the days started morphing into months then years. After the last disappearance, they never returned. We always suspected that someone in the neighborhood had taken in both of them because whenever they would show back up, they never seemed like they were starving.

    Of course we never reported them missing. 1) my dad didn’t really care one way or the other and 2) mom never thought about it and 3) they would always eventually show back up even if it was years later.

    Whenever I go over to the hometown these days, I will often see a cat that reminds me of our cats and wonder if they are a descendant.

    Cats are definitely their own unique little beings. I actually wouldn’t mind having one, again except that I have two little grump old men (dogs) one of which is a terrier mix, and I don’t think they would take to kindly to another four-legged child in the family.

    Reply
    1. Catherine of VegCharlotte Avatar
      Catherine of VegCharlotte

      I did consider in the beginning it might be a neighbor’s cat, since he was hungry but not skinny. But, no collar, no chip. And initially I was checking lost pet pages and looking for signs – which, of course, there weren’t because Bowie was still coming “home” for lunch each day!

      And you are probably right regarding your grumpy old men. Terriers have strong chase instincts and are not the best with cats. (I love them, though – currently have a Jack Russell/Shih Tzu mix.)

      Reply

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