The Matriarch

It seems like the wild ones have always been around, but it actuality I think it has been about a year since the ragged old tom started showing up on my doorstep.  He had a scratched up eye, was missing part of his ear and appeared to have a serious case of mites or something that was making him scratch his ears raw.

My natural instinct was to provide some sort of care.  I started with food that was readily accepted.  Beat up Kitty became a regular visitor to my doorstep.  In spite of his appearance his demeanor was anything but aggressive.  He was serene and easygoing.  He never hissed or ran away, he did not show aggression or fear of me.  But in spite of all of this he would only accept my company if I stayed out of arms reach.  If I came closer he would step away. 

As time went on I came to understand that Beat Up Kitty wasn't just my Beat up Kitty but also my neighbors TomTom and another neighbors doorstep cat.

Then in April beat up kitty showed up at dinner time with a couple of young uns.  Humm methinks Beat Up Kitty is not the neighborhood Tom, but rather the neighborhood tramp.

My neighbor still calls her TomTom, I have renamed her Grizabella after the Heroine of Cats