Willis has been my garden buddy for several years, but now there’s a new kid on the block. Meet Louie:
Louie appeared out of nowhere a few weeks ago. He snuck up on me when I was moving my flats of plants from our screen porch into the sunshine to harden off for the day. Louis immediately decided “Su casa es mi casa” and jumped into the porch to investigate things. I’m glad I had the door to the house shut or I’m sure he would’ve invited himself in there too. My first words to him were “But I don’t OWN a cat!” I scratched his back and he rubbed up against my legs and licked my finger.
Louie has a funny little meow that sounds more like a hoarse “mew”. He followed me everywhere I went that morning, mewing the entire time. Whenever I entered the house through the porch or garage, I had to slip through the doorway quickly to prevent Louis from sneaking in behind me. When I finally went back inside the house for breakfast, he sat outside looking longingly at the door like a little dog.
The next morning I flung open the porch door, but Louie was nowhere to be found. However, about 10 minutes into my plant transporting routine, I discovered him on the porch again. This time Willis was with him (although Willis was not impolite enough to enter the porch uninvited). The two cats seemed to be familiar with each other so I was hoping this meant Louie belonged to the same neighbor. I didn’t need a stray cat adopting me.
I saw my neighbor a few days later and asked her about this funny little cat that acts like he owns the place. That’s when she told me his name is Louie. He was adopted in January and immediately became “ruler” of his fellow housemates (2 Labrador retrievers and several cats, including Willis). Louie is 9 years old and he’s only been let outside recently. That would explain his fixation with the doors to my house and the funny reaction he had when a chipmunk blundered into his path. Louie stared at it for a moment, flicked his tail back and forth a few times and promptly walked away. Willis would be ashamed. On more than one occasion I’ve spotted Willis staring down a chipmunk, neither creature batting an eye for up to 30 minutes. It’s like watching a cheetah size up a gazelle in the Serengeti.
Louie is above such foolishness. My neighbor says Louie decides who can pet him and for how long. He doesn’t like to cuddle or be picked up and when he doesn’t get to go outside, he gets ornery and bops the (much-bigger) dogs on the head with his paw.
I haven’t seen Louie as much now that my plants are all tucked into their flowerbeds. However one morning last week I was washing some dishes and peeked through the little window to see Louie looking up at me expectantly. I couldn’t ignore his hopeful gaze and I stopped what I was doing to go outside and “visit”. I guess he owns me too.