An open letter to whomever dumped their pet

Dear You-should-be-ashamed:

And you should, really. Leaving a cat to fend on his own. A PET, even! And how do I know that? Because of the following:

Some time in January, a stray gray cat shows up in the neighborhood. He is hiding out at the neighbor's whose yard adjoins ours and I watch him shimmy under the fence and come to my house for food. My neighbor, good-hearted as she is, doesn't have any cats and has a large garden area, so she may not even know he exists. He patiently waits while my outdoor cats eat, then comes in for the crumbs.

As the months have gone by, he's become both bolder and more accepted by his fellow felines. He starts to hide out and perhaps bed down in my front flower beds. I see him make a pair of mockingbirds very mad when he takes down a third for his dinner. He eyes me over his shoulder as he hunkers over his prize. I do not disturb him.

Then, last week, as I sit on the porch scratching behind the ears of my blue-eyed Sam, Gray--because I've had to call him something--strolls over to me and headbutts my arm! A feral cat does not do this. A feral hides and runs, not nuzzles up to a stranger.

Because he is a nuzzler! If I sit on the porch steps, he comes and winds himself around me and nestles to my back. He purrs in contentment and lets me stroke him from nose to tail tip.

He was a pet!

Why was he dumped? Did his owner die or go to a nursing facility or move? Did you, dear dumper, think the village would take care of him if he were dumped at an appropriate place?

Well, I have. I intend to take him to the vet as soon as we're comfortable enough with each other that I can pick him up.

In the meantime, if I've been all wrong about this and you've merely misplaced a beautiful gray cat (large, broad, thin-coated), then if you're reading this blog--and can tell me about his eyes and mouth--you know how to find me. Plus, I monitor my comments. Leave one and I'll get in touch.

She-who-hates-to-see-animals-abandoned