CAT-a-c!ysmic

This post is one day late because a couple of weeks ago my life got complicated. A teen-age tom cat camped out on my front porch. He was skinny, scrawny and howling.  He was hungry. I fed him a thrown together meal of hard-boiled eggs, whole wheat crackers all mushed up in water. He scraped the bowl, lay down on a mat and looked at me with imploring eyes. I went straight-away to the market and loaded up on cat food, kitty litter, litter boxes, a talking cricket toy and salmon cat treats.

Photo by Maggy Fellmann

He kept coming around for meals. And then he stayed (outdoors). The best part was, when I came home from some outing I whistled and he came running. Every day my whistle got stronger. And so did he. About a week into our relationship I loaded him into my sister's cat carrier and took him to our local vet. Dr. Morse knew exactly what kind of cat it was. I was so nervous I forgot. But he's pale ginger colored, with circles on each side, white boots and a white belly. I named him  Billy (after a friend of mine who is another sort of tom cat).

Billy, the cat was tested for leukemia, examined and given a whole bunch of shots. The vet said he was very healthy and that some awful owner had dumped him. He told me to let him out during the day but to keep him in at night. The first night he pooped and peed on the guest room sofa. I called the guy who works on this house to come and take it away (the sofa, not the cat). And designed a new bed. I hated that sofa. As he got more used to me and to the house he got bolder. He tried to sleep on my bed. Stayed out till eleven and had me worried that he'd got run over or cat-napped. As Billy got more confidence (bordering on bravado) I got more like a helicopter pet owner. But the worse thing:  he's an adorable cat and I can't keep him because I'm going to Finland and France in the fall. So now everyone I know is looking for a cat lover who will give him a good home and love him like crazy. If Eki and Riikka lived here it would be no problem. They are crazy about cats.

Q. What part of making docs do you hate the most?

A. When Eki tells me to watch the interviews and pick out what is best. We keep all interviews to around ten minutes for that reason.

1 September 2013:  "Happy Birthday to You."  And here's the bill.