So we have this cat now.  In fact, he is sitting on my lap as I write this.  His name is Famish (Satomi named him that because he is always hungry) and he is pretty great.  We had been thinking about getting a cat for a while and even went to the shelter a few times to play with the cats there.  They were young and frisky and very cute but, at first, we thought that we wanted an older cat.  We had visions of a mellow older cat sleeping peacefully while Satomi made handmade quilts.  We soon came to our senses and decided not to get a cat since we aren’t planning on being in Japan continuously for the full normal lifespan of a cat.  Decison made! Then, Famish found us one night when we were out for a walk.

Satomi has a habit of “meowing” when she takes a walk.  It probably isn’t a mental condition or anything but just her way of finding where cats are hanging out so she can befriend them.  It’s amazingly effective.  Satomi had been meowing away for quite a while (and had befriend a few cats already) but we were almost home so she stopped.  For some strange reason I decided to give it a try.  I let out my best meow and Famish dashed out of a nearby garage.  He wasn’t skin and bones thin but he was headed in that direction.  He was so hungry that he wouldn’t stop meowing.  From her pocket, Satomi conjured up a packet of cat food and the cat went bonkers.  He made such a funny sound when he ate that I immediately had a soft spot for him.  For the next few days Satomi brought food with her every time she went out and Famish was always waiting either somewhere in that garage or in the vacant lot next to it.  Satomi wanted to take him home but I contended that you can’t just take a cat that lives in someone’s garage home with you.  In my opinion a person should at least ascertain if the cat has a home before making off with it.  Satomi didn’t wholeheartedly agree so I volunteered to go talk to the garage’s owners and see what was up.  But, before I got around to Famish threw up the food that Satomi had been feeding it, on the garage floor, and word went around that a stray cat was causing problems for the neighbors and they wanted the cat gone.  So, without further ado, we were the owners of a (previously) stray cat.

Another one of our requirements for a cat was that he or she be an indoor cat so in no time at all Famish went from life on the streets to being a house cat.  He must have lived in a house at some point because he knew how to use a litter box and loves being held and sitting on laps.  The one challenge we were facing was that he was all man.  It is spring our un-neutered cat was going crazy listening to the coos of all the ladies.  I can’t even describe the sound he was making but I will say that it was painful to hear. It was worst at night and made sleeping pretty tough.  As a guy I could kind of sympathize with him so I was tolerating it pretty well.  Satomi wasn’t.  She wanted him fixed ASAP.  No sympathy or empathy whatsoever.  She went as far as to taunt him that he wouldn’t be a man for much longer.  Ladies, I give you this advice…don’t taunt your pets that way when your husband is around.  I guarantee that he will begin to doubt how you feel about him and his gender.

As always, Satomi got her wish and Famish is less manly than he used to be.  I hoped that she would take Famish to the appointment but it turned out that she started her new job that day so the duty fell upon my shoulders.  I still don’t know how I feel about the whole thing.  After all, I am the one who gave the a-ok for his snip snipping and brought him to meet his fate.  As I was driving him there kept thinking, “a dude shouldn’t do that to another dude,” but I did it anyway.  Famish doesn’t seem to mind.  If he is holding some resentment toward me I haven’t seen it.  Truthfully, he seems happier and he has become more interesting without his mind on kitty booty all of the time.  The three of us, Satomi, Famish, and I all sleep a lot sounder at night.  But there will  never be more little Famishes running around.  That’s good and bad I think.  Famish is pretty special so he could make other families really happy.  That’s the bad part–no more Famishes.  On the other hand, there are already too many Famishes running around our neighborhood and all of them are strays so we won’t be adding to that population.  That’s the good part–no more Famishes.  When I say there are other Famishes running around I really mean it.  There are several cats who appear to be siblings of Famish.  They are similar right down to the guttural  pre-op meowing.  In addition to the brothers and sisters there are more distant relatives each with some similarity but I won’t bore you with the details of that.

A fun fact about the whole experience is that Dr. Nishmura, who performed Famishes neutering, is the same doctor who Satomi unleashed her righteous fury against at when we had the injured bird (Leaving a Friend to Die in the Woods Post).  Luckily for us, he isn’t holding that against her.

-The Green Tea Dreamer