Everybody Loves Nellie
Nellie is a neighborhood cat. Yes, she has a home, but she prefers to wander the neighborhood and hunt little critters on the hill behind our houses. Nellie does not lack for food. Whether it is captured critters or neighbors' handouts, Nellie eats well and has the solid weight (though not obesity) to prove it.
Nellie is an outdoors cat. She spends her days outside, and when her owner calls her in, she is as likely as not to turn a deaf ear. When night descends and cold surrounds (fortunately, in California, it never gets to the point of perilous cold), Nellie should be home with her owner, but often she is not. We hear the owner calling, and we are pretty sure that Nellie hears, too. But Nellie does not respond with much alacrity. Sometimes she scampers seemingly deliberately in the opposite direction. That is when she becomes a true neighborhood cat. Any neighbor will open a door to Nellie on a cold night. Our catio has a covered box with a warm, fleece pillow that Nellie loves to snuggle into on a cold night.
Nellie is a loving cat. She lets anyone and everyone pet her. She often asks to be petted. And she loves to rub heads with the pre-teen boy who lives downstairs from me.
Nellie's owner is not friendly with her neighbors. We do not know why she lets Nellie roam. We assume she thinks that Nellie has a right to be outdoors. Unfortunately, outdoor cats live less than hlf as long as indoor cats. We wish Nellie's owner would understand this and keep her in. Barring that happening (and it does not seem that it ever will), Nellie has a village watching over her.
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