The tale of cat who walks by himself

Cats...you either love them or hate them, don't you. Myself I am very much a cat lover, I adore their affection, their independence, their lofty natures and the sound of deep, rumbling purr which conveys love, trust and above all loyalty to those they are attached to. My husband is a cat loather, for what it's worth, but in our house that really doesn't count for much.

Cat's are smart creatures, and a bit like horses, I like to think they find the people whose company they enjoy even if they are not their owners. And so we have an adopted tom cat, called 'Harvey' and whenever he comes I welcome him. He is "the cat who walks by himself and all places are alike to him

He has his 'real' family of owners about 3 doors along our street, and they love him but comes to us. He is an old boy, a bit of a grump and certainly no lap cat, but he has found in us a family who (in the main) love him and appreciate his affection. 

Perhaps he sensed that we needed a cat in our lives, and after all everyone loves to be needed. Maybe we have been adopted by a him, not the other way around?

Rudyard Kipling fans should know, my husband might be known on occasion to threaten to throw a boot at him, and while I don't offer him any real food, he does earn some gratitude for his affection with regular saucers of milk and the chance to lie beside any fire he chooses. And he has indeed scratched and entertained my children in almost equal measure so it is a very true 'Just So' tale

Horses can't vote with their feet quite so easily as our Harvey, but in a different way they do. They kind of say "That's your name on the papers and you can think what you like.....bottom line though , if I don't like you, you have had it....you might want to think about letting me find my true owner".

I like to think there is a horse or two out there waiting to find, in me, their true owner!