The Outside Cat

The Outside Cat

He’s big and black and Persian. He is, we suspect, the father of our little sweet strange black cat—who is half Persian and half Siamese. (We have two purebred Siamese.) We keep changing the names of our cats, so I won’t tell you their current names. (When in doubt, I call each of them “Schmoopdoop.” “Hey, Schmoopdoop, look what I brought for you to eat!”) The little black cat is strange because…well, for one thing, sometimes she’s loving, sometimes she treats us with utter disdain.

The outside cat, obviously, isn’t allowed in. He might carry diseases he might give our cats. Besides, he doesn’t want in. He’s afraid of us. But he’s been hanging around, often coming onto our porch to eat food the inside cats haven’t finished. We recently broke down and began feeding him regularly. Tremendous appetite! Maybe three big cans of cheap catfood a day. He-–so to speak—wolfed them down.

   We don’t know if anyone owns him. We actually put an ad in the local paper, but with no response.

   Now we have a big problem.

   Winter is coming.

  How will the outside cat keep warm in frigid weather?

   I’m planning to construct a small cat house, out of cardboard and rags, hoping the outside cat will be smart enough to crawl inside.

  But I know what’s going to happen.

   We’re tender-minded, not tough-minded.

   The outside cat is sooner or later going to join the ranks of the inside cats.