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First Cat: Dosu-chanWhen one of our neighbors moved, this cat was left behind because of his agressive voice. Even though their new rental house does not allow cats, they could take his mother along, because she was quiet. Indeed, he was miaowing by their window very often. When he appeared at our house, he passed the time lying down on our roof, without any voice. Maybe he was weak, or had given up talking. However, the sound of his steps on our roof was so loud, we named him Dosu-chan (Thunderfoot) and started to offer him some food. After ten rainy days, we were worried about him one day, because he didn’t show up at our place. Then a person who lives across from our house told us that she may have seen his dead body when she walked her dog. Chris went to check if it was him or not, and he saw his body: it had been placed in a box with some flowers by a person who knew him. Without sharing his voice with us, he passed away. |
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Second Cat: Shiro-chanWe named her Shiro because her body colour is ‘shiro’, which means ‘white’ in English. Shiro also doesn’t miaow. We’ve heard her threatening voice though... She may have been one of Dosu-chan’s friends. It seemed she got some food from him, so she naturally started to get food from us after him. She appears quietly and waits a while for us to notice her. After she eats, she usually leaves some food in her dish and leaves quietly. We heard somebody else feeds her but actually we don’t know where she goes when she isn’t here. She doesn’t show up when it’s raining. She may wait for us to say ‘her ladyship has come’, and for us to serve her a meal on the shed roof, after the rain stops. |
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Third Cat: Kyoku-chanHe appeared for Shiro’s leftovers. He was increasing his eating speed until the end, when we noticed he was taking her food. People who watch sumo probably understand what the wrestler named Kyokushuzan does after his match: if he wins using a tricky technique, he half-skips, half-trots out of the ring. Kyoku’s way to run away from Shiro’s dish reminded us of Kyokushuzan. So we named him Kyoku-chan. From the sound of his steps on our roof, we imagined he was a big cat; however, he seems to be still a teenager. He eats very well. He even wants Shiro’s leftovers, so it makes her angry. They clearly have a different stray cat history. He also didn’t know how to miaow at first. Even now, he sometimes confuses ‘hissing’ and ‘miaowing’. We don’t know where he sleeps, but he has his own toilet in our back yard. Chris takes charge of cleaning it. |
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–YS, Summer 2003 |
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Next page: Other Cats from All Over
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Date posted: 2003-09-15