Peoples-cat

Peoples is my gregarious cat. He came to me from the street where he was starving. Actually he came to me indirectly via friends for whom I work. In fact, I think I witnessed the eviction that may have caused Peoples to be on the street.

I was working on my friends’ yard one day when a Sheriffs deputy drove up to a house across the street. There was some shouting and crying and I saw people rushing about gathering things and putting them into a car. Shortly after, another deputy arrived and a civilian car also. I suppose the civilian was the owner of the property as I later saw her attach a lock to the gate as the former occupants drove away. This is pure speculation but I imagine that Peoples lived on the property and his owners were forced to move into an apartment where pets were not allowed. They might have come around to feed him for a while and then moved out of town leaving him abandoned.

My friends told me they had seen him outside their home on a number of occasions trying to catch birds that gathered at their bird feeders and that he was trying to eat a bird-block. Any cat that tries to gain sustenance by eating a bird-block is a very hungry cat. He began sitting on their doorstep as if asking to be let in and as he appeared to be starving they relented and brought him into their home.

I first met Peoples a couple of weeks later when I arrived to clean my friends’ yard. He immediately jumped onto my lap and rubbed his head against me. I suspect that he came from a large family as he is so friendly, and is always the first of my cats to make his appearance and will greet a stranger within a few minutes of their arrival. I named him Peoples as he was abandoned, yielded unto the people, made a public cat, a people’s cat and free for the taking and because he is so gregarious the name Peoples seems perfect. I adopted him from my friends as they are allergic to cat dander.

He loves his man; he loves his food; and loves playing with the kitten, Miss Hiss. He does not, however, love my other tomcat, Legs, whom he identifies as “Enemy Cat”, as Peoples is a lover not a fighter. He has only one flaw and that involves cat-box etiquette but for your sake I won’t go into the specifics. He is a sweet cat but also a very stinky cat. Peoples lies now in his favorite place, my lap. He is an all black, short-haired, neutered boy, with one fang longer than the other. He likes to rest his head on my chest and look up at me with a smile on his face, his one fang stark against his blackness, his eyes screwed down, but with his happiness shinning through.