Some cats choose their owners, they need us, just as much as we need them. I was raised with family pets for as long as I can remember, typically cats and dogs, but personally, I only consider myself to have had 2 pets of my own, Leo, and Ginger, a cat from my teens, Ginger was my first feline companion, but how our paths crossed for both cats was astonishing.
One morning my friend and I were walking to school together, the route to our destination would be via the arches which leads to the new Den opposite Silwood estate, When I say Den, I am referring to the new Millwall football stadium.
The weather was cold, wet and miserable, the clouds were a sooty dark grey and the rain was thick and consistent. We were both soaked and anticipating reaching shelter under the archways, but as we approached the initial arch from the right there was a vacant white car parked on the side of the road, as we passed a ginger and white cat appeared from underneath, although it was raining he wanted to make his presence known to me, he too was cold and wet and the top of his head was soaked with motor oil.
His interest was keen, and so he began to follow us, and I decided to pick him up and place him inside my bomber jacket, I thought this would give him some temporary relief from the weathering conditions and I could provide shelter for him under the arches, I also recall some items had been fly tipped to the arch opposite which included a nice mattress for him hide under.
When we reach the archway, I remove him from my jacket and place him on the floor where its dry, as we begin to leave, he continues to follow, so I turn to him and say “stay here”, I also point towards the mattress, but still he continues to follow, this time myself and my friend turn towards him and both of us prevent him from the leaving the arches with us, so I continue to talk to the cat, “we will be back after school, you cannot come with us, wait here until we return” and by surprise he sat and listened, it actually worked, result! I didn’t think any more of it, other than how intelligent I considered the cat to be, we then continued our journey to school, business and usual.
After school, me and my friend walk home together, by now the weather had improved and it was dry, with specks of sun peeking through the clouds, we soon reach the arches, continuing our conversation and oblivious to the morning events, we both look ahead and see the cat sitting on the concrete block, he had been waiting patiently underneath the arch all day, we were astonished!
I pick the cat up again and place him back inside of my jacket, he was very happy and content with this, so my friend and I decide what we should do with the cat, I wasn’t confident I could keep him, we had a cat and a dog already, and I honestly wasn’t comfortable approaching my mum to keep the cat, so my friend insisted he would take the cat home with him and ask his parents. He was certain this wouldn’t be a problem.
As I leave for school the following morning I open the front door and to my surprise the cat was sitting patiently on top of the concrete encasement which housed the bin, somehow, perhaps by scent, he managed to find his way to me, my friend lived in the block of flats directly in front of mine, but he wasn’t present.
I continue to stand in the doorway with shock, and thinking about how to handle the situation, soon I feel a presence behind me, I turn and face my mum, she informs me the cat had been sitting out there all morning, she was also aware of my encounter with the cat from the day before, and swiftly without hesitation or malice, she asks me if I would like to keep him, again stunned, I immediately accept, all my concerns were taken out of the mix, it just simply worked out, but although Ginger wasn’t entirely Ginger, I decided Ginger would be his name, which my mother had temporally nicknamed him.
Ginger was a great companion of mine during those days and he was very affectionate and close, unfortunately, I didn’t live at home as much as I would have liked too, but he was always there for me when I returned, and he lived a happy life until diagnosed with Aids and with a parting message from me to him on the stairwell, this was the last time we were together.
It wasn’t until 2015 when a similar event persuaded me to think otherwise about owning a pet again, I had incorporated my business, Shuffle Innovations Limited in August 2012 when I was forced to find alternative routes back into employment, and by 2015, I was working alone from home or in isolation when conducting property inspections.
One afternoon, I was feeling very tiered, business was quiet and so I decided to take an afternoon nap to replenish, during this nap, I had a very lucid dream, although brief, it remains memorable, when I became conscious, I found myself in a bright white environment with a lady being present, although her identity was not clear, I could sense her presence, I was laying on my back and looking up, it was peaceful and tranquil, and soon I begin to see her approaching me from my right, as she does, she leans over to bring her face closer to mine, anticipating a kiss, whilst eager to see her face with clarity, but as she continues to lean closer, her identity fades and instead gradually shapeshifts with each movement towards me, concealing her own identity, instead her face evolves into a ginger, young cat who begins to give me pecks of cat kisses on my face, gently I awake, and return to my reality.
As pleasant as the dream was, I remained confused, I knew this dream had meaning or purpose, but I couldn’t join the dots between her and the resemblance of a cat. This rested on my mind for a little while, but I knew from experience the answers would flow in good time too.
Surprisingly, the answer came much sooner than expected, that following weekend I was approached by my partner, her sister’s cat had previously given birth to a litter of kittens and was curious to know if I would be interested in homing a cat, this obviously peaks my curiosity, and she shows me a photo, and there he was, a tiny little ginger kitten with blue eyes staring up at me from the floor. I tried to find every reason not to say yes, but it was hopeless, I was already attached to him and my logical reasoning not to accept him was futile, my only concerns were providing for a cat, I trusted my knowledge and to this day, it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Initially Leo was named Kingsley, a name I really admired, but I wanted to name him based on his star sign and year of birth, hence the name, Leo, also known as “Leo the Lion” 🙂
When he arrived I was finishing my dinner, and by chance there was plenty of crème fraiche on my plate, which I decided to offer to him on my finger from outside of his carrier, he couldn’t resist my charms and so he casually walked out and was very comfortable with me from the offset, he even slept at the bottom of the bed all night and our bond grew stronger, he worked with me during the day whilst laying behind my monitor, and eventually onto my lap when he grew too big for the desk, and during this time he developed one of his quirks, which is to ensure a paw is always touching me when laying close by or to overwhelm me an abundance of cat kisses when it was time to focus on him or a reminder to take a break from working, especially for naps.
Leo and Ginger have taught me something I can never forgot, reinforcing the fact how loving and affectionate animals can be, and although I am an omnivore, just as he is a carnivore, this relationship shaped my outlook on the food industry and has focused my concerns on the treatment of our livestock, the methods of slaughter we use and the vast scale of animals unnecessarily killed. Animal life’s matter. We, as guardians, it’s entirely our responsibility to remain compassionate towards the treatment of animals and towards to the treatment of workers within the slaughterhouses, whose detachment from compassion towards our earthly animals is at risk.
A healthy balance of the food chain and the respect for animal lives needs to be upheld, especially if we too want to retain our own humanity.
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Feline Friends Some cats choose their owners, they need us, just as much as we need them. I was raised with family pets for as long as I can remember, typically cats and dogs, but personally, I only consider myself to have had 2 pets of my own, Leo, and Ginger, a cat from my teens, Ginger was my first feline companion, but how our paths crossed for both cats was astonishing.