Thought I'd share this with you... I've spent the morning writing it and I'm hoping I can use it at some point to wake people up to strays and mistreatment. Probably on my own website once that's up and running... so if you can pass opinion I'd be really grateful
*****
Poor Little Cat
This is Poor Little Cat. Itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s not his real name, he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t have one, but “Poor Little Cat†is what everybody calls him when they see him. He has been lost for a long time. He canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t remember how long.
Every day he wakes up very hungry and he is very thin. His fur is dirty and knotted and he just canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t seem to ever be able to get it clean again, no matter how hard he tries. His skin itches terribly and one of his back legs is very painful, perhaps broken. He is tired and sore, his poor little body bruised and battered from a time when he had people to live with. And yet on he wanders, lonely, from place to place looking for food. Poor Little Cat goes to sleep every night all alone under a parked car, or in the shelter of a bush. Anywhere out of the cold and the rain will do. Sometimes he canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t even sleep because he is so hungry. Too hungry to sleep and too tired to eat.
Poor Little Cat is scared of people. Some, he knows, are trying to help him, but he wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t take that chance. He has been hurt before. What if these new people hurt him too? He remembers too well the people who were supposed to love him and to look after him. He was only young then. They had played with him and fed him and enjoyed his company. He had been very happy. He had people who loved him, a warm house to sleep in and a garden to explore.
But something changed. They got tired of him. After a while, they started to forget to feed him. So many nights there would be no food or water in his bowl. Sometimes they would hit him, or kick him. They didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to play. One day they let him outside into the garden and this time, they didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t let him back in again.
For a long time, he stayed in the garden or mewed at the door. Surely they had just forgotten he was out there? But Poor Little Cat was ignored every time.
One day he simply walked away. Now he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t know where he is, he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t remember his name and he fends for himself in a big, cruel world where nobody even knows he exists.
Except for one young man….
Poor Little Cat has seen this young man every day now for a few weeks. Every day, he leaves a few scraps of food close to Poor Little Catâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s hiding place. Sometimes he sits and waits, just to catch a glimpse of Poor Little Cat. He talks to him in a low, soft voice and every day, he waits just a little longer. Poor Little Cat is beginning to rather like this young man.
One day, the young man arrives with a bowl, just like the one Poor Little Cat used to have before, full of food and water. He is so hungry this time that he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t wait for the man to leave. The meat is cold and succulent, the water fresh and clear. Poor Little Cat is so hungry he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t notice the young man reach out to stroke his scruffy head and neck.
Poor Little Cat has such a fright! He jumps back in terror, cowering from the touch, wondering what will happen next. But the young man doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t move. He doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t shout, and he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t try to hit Poor Little Cat. Poor Little Cat creeps a little closer, feeling a bit braver now that he knows the young man doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to hurt him. Still, the young man doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t move. Poor Little Cat boldly pads right up to the young man, reassured by his patience. Very, very slowly, the young man reaches down and gently scratches Poor Little Catâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s ears. He remembers this feeling. This is a wonderful feeling. Somebody loves Poor Little Cat! Somebody cares where he is and wants to take care of him.
All too soon though, it is time for the young man to leave. He picks up the empty bowl, gives Poor Little Cat one last stroke down his tatty body and begins to walk away.
Miaow.
The young man stops in his tracks.
Miaow!
He turns around very slowly and glances back over his shoulder. There is Poor Little Cat, limping painfully along behind him.
Miaow!
The young man smiles warmly, settles on his haunches and waits for Poor Little Cat to catch up. But he wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t make him walk the rest of the way home. It is a long way for tired and sore little cats to walk. Instead, he very carefully picks up Poor Little Cat and carries him home.
On the way home, the young man whispers something wonderful in Poor Little Cats ear.
“Youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re my little cat now. Youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re coming home with me and that means you need a name.â€
He pauses.
“You look like a “Davu†to me… It means “The Beginningâ€. I think thatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s fitting, donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t you?â€
Davu settles his head in the young man arms and does something he had almost forgotten how to do. Belly full for the first time in months and with a new name all of his own, he purrs contentedly, then falls asleep.
*****
Poor Little Cat
This is Poor Little Cat. Itâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s not his real name, he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t have one, but “Poor Little Cat†is what everybody calls him when they see him. He has been lost for a long time. He canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t remember how long.
Every day he wakes up very hungry and he is very thin. His fur is dirty and knotted and he just canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t seem to ever be able to get it clean again, no matter how hard he tries. His skin itches terribly and one of his back legs is very painful, perhaps broken. He is tired and sore, his poor little body bruised and battered from a time when he had people to live with. And yet on he wanders, lonely, from place to place looking for food. Poor Little Cat goes to sleep every night all alone under a parked car, or in the shelter of a bush. Anywhere out of the cold and the rain will do. Sometimes he canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t even sleep because he is so hungry. Too hungry to sleep and too tired to eat.
Poor Little Cat is scared of people. Some, he knows, are trying to help him, but he wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t take that chance. He has been hurt before. What if these new people hurt him too? He remembers too well the people who were supposed to love him and to look after him. He was only young then. They had played with him and fed him and enjoyed his company. He had been very happy. He had people who loved him, a warm house to sleep in and a garden to explore.
But something changed. They got tired of him. After a while, they started to forget to feed him. So many nights there would be no food or water in his bowl. Sometimes they would hit him, or kick him. They didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to play. One day they let him outside into the garden and this time, they didnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t let him back in again.
For a long time, he stayed in the garden or mewed at the door. Surely they had just forgotten he was out there? But Poor Little Cat was ignored every time.
One day he simply walked away. Now he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t know where he is, he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t remember his name and he fends for himself in a big, cruel world where nobody even knows he exists.
Except for one young man….
Poor Little Cat has seen this young man every day now for a few weeks. Every day, he leaves a few scraps of food close to Poor Little Catâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s hiding place. Sometimes he sits and waits, just to catch a glimpse of Poor Little Cat. He talks to him in a low, soft voice and every day, he waits just a little longer. Poor Little Cat is beginning to rather like this young man.
One day, the young man arrives with a bowl, just like the one Poor Little Cat used to have before, full of food and water. He is so hungry this time that he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t wait for the man to leave. The meat is cold and succulent, the water fresh and clear. Poor Little Cat is so hungry he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t notice the young man reach out to stroke his scruffy head and neck.
Poor Little Cat has such a fright! He jumps back in terror, cowering from the touch, wondering what will happen next. But the young man doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t move. He doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t shout, and he doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t try to hit Poor Little Cat. Poor Little Cat creeps a little closer, feeling a bit braver now that he knows the young man doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want to hurt him. Still, the young man doesnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t move. Poor Little Cat boldly pads right up to the young man, reassured by his patience. Very, very slowly, the young man reaches down and gently scratches Poor Little Catâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s ears. He remembers this feeling. This is a wonderful feeling. Somebody loves Poor Little Cat! Somebody cares where he is and wants to take care of him.
All too soon though, it is time for the young man to leave. He picks up the empty bowl, gives Poor Little Cat one last stroke down his tatty body and begins to walk away.
Miaow.
The young man stops in his tracks.
Miaow!
He turns around very slowly and glances back over his shoulder. There is Poor Little Cat, limping painfully along behind him.
Miaow!
The young man smiles warmly, settles on his haunches and waits for Poor Little Cat to catch up. But he wonâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t make him walk the rest of the way home. It is a long way for tired and sore little cats to walk. Instead, he very carefully picks up Poor Little Cat and carries him home.
On the way home, the young man whispers something wonderful in Poor Little Cats ear.
“Youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re my little cat now. Youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re coming home with me and that means you need a name.â€
He pauses.
“You look like a “Davu†to me… It means “The Beginningâ€. I think thatâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]s fitting, donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t you?â€
Davu settles his head in the young man arms and does something he had almost forgotten how to do. Belly full for the first time in months and with a new name all of his own, he purrs contentedly, then falls asleep.
