Friday with Fred the Cat

Fred the Cat here. Wanna know a little secret? Of course you do. I have a lady friend. She is a wild woman, in that no human can get too close to her. She and her siblings were born in the woods nearby just before Hurricane Frances hit here in 2004. They lived through that hurricane and the next two. She says it was scary but they made it.

As time went by all of her family (the Hurricats) moved on, except her brother who passed away. No one knows what happened to him, but Mr. Pop found him laying in the yard. He was very sick He was almost dead, so Mr. Pop put him on a towel in a little box and softly petted him during his last breaths. Mr. Pop is a true animal lover and that little cat received a proper burial, complete with human tears.

My friend had one sister, who her highness used to call Daisy. Daisy decided to move away too. This little lady who remained looked just like Daisy. Mr. Pop used to get them confused, so her highness named this one, Not Daisy or ND for short. ND didn’t sound right so they added the name, Anna. My friend’s name is ND-Anna. Cute, huh?

So ND-Anna and I are screen friends. She comes to the back door every morning and waits for her food. While she waits, we catch up on things and rub noises through the screen. Since I’ve had all my shots, I don’t worry about catching anything from her.

ND-Anna thinks she can never trust humans enough to allow them too close to her. I try to explain the treasures of allowing that trust, but she just can’t be convinced. Maybe one day I’ll win her over. She says she has made it through three hurricanes, losing her family and close calls in the wild. She says she needs no humans. That’s when I remind her that she has depended on the Pops for food every single day or her life. This is about the time she just sniffs at me and prances off to who knows where. She sure is one hard headed cat, but I love her anyway.

I guess we each have to make our own decisions about what we do in our life. Her decision may not seem right to me, but perhaps she knows something about herself that I don’t. So I’m not going to judge her or her decisions. I’m just going to enjoy her friendship and remind myself that what’s right for me might not be right for every other cat. The thing that makes each of us so special is that we are not all alike.

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Have a great weekend everyone! We have a big day next week. I get to go back and visit the evil doers at the veterinarian’s office. Ha! I bet they are already dreading my vicious return. Oh, and tomorrow I may post a photo of ND-Anna, the last of the Hurricats. Check and see.