Our Cat Short's Birthday

This week was Short's birthday—or at least, what we have decided is his official birthday.

Short is a rescue cat, so we don't know exactly when he was born. We suspect it was sometime in the summer, but there is no way to be sure. Instead, we celebrate the day we took him in: June 23rd.

In my first CafeTalk column, I mentioned how my wife and I unexpectedly ended up helping to run a mountain dairy farm in Ehime. While we were there, we became aware of two semi-wild cats that spent much of the winter sitting together on top of the boiler beside the milk shed. They would try to lap up spilled milk and would hiss, spit, and swipe at us if we got too close.

One had a long tail, so we called him Long. The other had a shorter tail, so naturally, he became Short.

Around Christmas, Long disappeared. We never found out what happened to him. For several days afterwards, Short wandered around meowing constantly. That was when we started leaving food out for him.

At first, we fed him near the milking parlour. Later, he began following us back to the farmhouse and waiting on the porch steps.

When we eventually decided to leave the farm and move to Shiga, we faced a difficult question: who would look after Short? We couldn't be certain that anyone would continue feeding him, so we decided to take him with us.

After a few necessary visits to the vet and a couple of tense weeks adjusting to life indoors, Short made the long journey from the quiet mountains of Ehime to his new home here in Shiga.

Growing up, both my wife and I had cats, but being children, we weren't really aware of everything involved in caring for one. We played with them, stroked them, and enjoyed having them sit on our laps. That was about the extent of our understanding.

Now, as adults responsible for a cat's wellbeing, things feel very different.

Is he drinking enough water? Are we feeding him the right food? Is he getting enough exercise and stimulation? Is he using the litter tray normally? Are we recognising the signs when he's stressed, bored, or simply wants attention?

Then there are the claws. Anyone who has tried trimming a cat's claws knows that "simple" is not always the word that comes to mind.

Like cat owners everywhere, we've gone through the inevitable toy-buying phase. We quickly learned that price tags don't guarantee popularity; the expensive toys we carefully choose are frequently ignored, while the cheapest, simplest things turn out to be a massive hit.

Most recently, I fell for the legendary "banana" cat toy, supposedly packed with enough organic catnip to drive cats wild. So far, Short seems curious rather than impressed, sitting back as if he is calmly reserving judgement.

Happy Birthday, Short.

Note: If Short ever starts seriously playing with the banana, I'll post a better photo.