I Chose the Beast Cat

by Grahame J.
(Wandsworth.)

A Beast in the Garden.

That is not a misspelling, I mean beast not best! But I can't exactly say that I choose her, she sort of picked me or picked on me.

Where she can from I do not know but I'm sure that she must have belonged to someone. As she has never become pregnant in the four years that she has seen fit to hang around here it's a pretty safe bet that she has been neutered.

She is a big one, a real beast of a cat. She gave me quite a turn when she came rushing out of the undergrowth at the end of my garden. She must have been well hidden because I did not see her there and it is possible that I startled her, but unlike most normal cats she did not run away at my approach, instead she ran at me! She then retired to a corner and sat studying me.

Because she seemed so aggressive I did not attempt to pet her as I would any other cat, I carried on with the jobs I had to do in the garden and when finished went inside leaving this beast still watching me.

About two hours later there was an awful yowling and scratching at my kitchen door. You can guess who it was. I probably had a mind to tell her to scram when I opened the door but she just bolted straight inside and sat right in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Food she said, using her eyes of course. She certainly was not starving, I remember thinking that I had never seen such a well fed cat. I opened up a tin of sardines, found an old plate and set it on the floor. The sardines met with her approval. I then ventured to see if she would let me pet her, which she did but only for a moment until she turned her attention to the door as if to say well now that you have fed me I want out. Off she went to the end of the garden and disappeared.

Next day she was back, and the next, and the next, until. It was obvious that this beast had adopted me. I asked around if anyone was missing a very large and fearsome cat but nobody would own up to it.

She, I've never called her anything but beast, is not at home much in the warmer whether. But makes full use of the house when it is cold or it rains. She is still a beast, but a beast with a heart, she can be very affectionate when she wants. I had no choice in having her as my companion, but do you think that I would part with her for all the tea in China? Of course I wouldn't.