Visit from Lily

Lily, the next door cat who wishes to be mine, has made her presence known during this very cold weather.

She pulls on my heartstrings, pawing at the glass door, calling with her desperate but gentle voice. Sitting hugging the wall, trying to dodge the rain downpours.

Finally, when freezing, squashed against the glass door to share whatever heat is there. Her visits do not follow any sort of pattern: three in the morning or one in the afternoon.

She has a perfectly good home to go to, which she has lived in since a kitten. She is now about twelve to thirteen years old.

The tipping point has been her owner rescuing a street dog from Cyprus earlier this year.

Lily is a nervous cat and cannot tolerate being alone with the dog when her owner is at work.

To top it all, the next house to them bought two kittens who have grown into big cats, one of which terrorises Lily. So Lily is desperate to be with me.

I would love to have her but can’t. We have a dog visiting frequently now and we have holidays and people visiting, too.

However, I am a sanctuary for her. We just love one another a great deal.

She is a delightful cat and we are great friends, so as soon as I see her she comes in chatting and stays for hours. We both enjoy the company.

I love her rolling purrs by my bed where she settles some times. Plus the warmth of her small body curled up on my lap.

We both enjoy the spectacle of her mad half hour, when she rushes madly at speed round the room, disappearing under a mat. Back out again and a rush around the back of the couch and out.

I do not feed her, just provide some water. I have to watch out for toileting calls and let her out. She also returns home when she is hungry.

It is here she feels safe and comes for cuddles, love and rescue, from the thug next door and the crows and magpies that attack her in the spring while protecting their young.

We have a very good arrangement I think. At the moment, she has called in after breakfast to sleep undisturbed and comfortably in a cosy wicker armchair.

I watch from a distance and pen this story from there, about my dear friend Lily the cat who wishes to be mine.

2025 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen