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From Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Clever, Curious, Caring Cat
By Monica Agnew Kinnaman Pets are humanizing. They remind us we have an obligation and responsibility to preserve and nurture and care for all life.
~James Cromwell I found him on my doorstep one day in late summer, nearly eight years ago. He regarded me fearfully as I walked up the garden path toward him. As I drew closer, he crouched with muscles taut, ready to take flight. I stopped and waited for him to make his next move. I talked to him in what I hoped were soothing tones, but as soon as I started to move toward him again, he sprang up and vanished into the bushes surrounding the front of the house. The following day, the little cat was there again, lying on the doorstep, but still with the don’t-come-near-me look on his face. This time, however, instead of a hurried flight into the bushes, he got up slowly, stretched, and walked around the side of the house in quite a dignified manner. I decided to leave a saucer of milk on the doorstep in case he was hungry and let him go his own way. After all, I thought, he might live in the neighborhood and just be paying me a visit. The next day, the saucer was empty. (Keep reading) | 