An Appreciative Cat
of the feline variety
I recently took up residence in an old Airstream camper trailer on a farm in Georgia (USA). I am here for labor. The owners of the farm had taken to making food available to encourage cats that roamed these parts to take up residence here as well, to discourage mice from wanting to live here.
Over time the relationship between the owners of the farm and a few of the cats grew. Eventually, three of the cats were somewhat domesticated. The owners had provided a place for them to reside on a side porch of their house that never got any traffic. They even put heat in the “kitty condo,” as they call it.
Shortly after I got here the owners took a trip for a week or so, and in their absence I fed the cats. As I said, they are still only semi-domesticated. They were very shy of a human with whom they were unfamiliar. In the short time I had been here they had never come anywhere near me or, to my knowledge, my abode. In fact, I was dealing with mice who wanted to live in it, too — trying to be free of them without any harming or killing.
The cats survived the absence of the owners of the farm in fine fettle, thanks to me. The owners got back on a Tuesday evening. That Thursday morning I found that one of the cats had left a ‘Thank you’ present right outside my door: a dead mouse.
Epilogue
I have had no further dealings of any kind with any of the cats. I was able to rid my residence of mice without any (further) violence of any kind (as far as I know).