08/18/2023 – Garden Cat

Murray, garden cat © Colehauscats.com
Murray, garden cat © Colehauscats.com

We strongly believe every garden deserves a garden cat and this year, visitor Murray fills the bill and then some. She has just enough interest in what Mom’s doing to offer an opinion (“Shouldn’t the tall yellow flowers go there, next to the short magenta ones?”) and stays out of the way when the big guns come out – shovels, rakes, Saws-all power tools (“No, ma’am, I’m not certified to operate that!”). But she’s not too far away. A cool nap in a cool spot fits perfectly.

This past weekend, Mom thought she’d try to find Murray’s REAL home. She figures it’s somewhere on the next street over and down the hill. Remembering her experience trying to find Teese’s home back in 2017, in which more people told Mom to get off their property than to bother to look at a simple photo, she though she’d post a flyer on NextDoor to ask around. She knows full well most people haven’t even heard of NextDoor but it’s worth a shot.

Murray, awesome garden cat © Colehauscats.com
Murray, awesome garden cat © Colehauscats.com

And you know, several people claim she’s their cat. The fact that some of those people live miles and miles upon miles away, and none of them live in our development is a little disheartening. One name stood out as someone who trolled and ghosted Mom two years ago about a tall, potted lilac Mom was trying to find a free home for, and months later, did the same ghosting routine on a motorcycle helmet Mom sold elsewhere. So, Mom’s not about to hand over a cat to just anyone who says she’s theirs. Nope. Mom says she’s going to have to take Murray to the local humane society for a free scan for a microchip.

The next disheartening thing is, if she has a chip (Murray, not Mom), they won’t tell Mom who Murray belongs to, for privacy reasons, and that’s understandable. They will call those people listed on the microchip, that is, if someone actually registered it. Unfortunately, in our area, less than 20% of people respond to a call about their lost pet and less than that want their pet back, particularly cats. Nationally, just 38 percent collect their lost cats after getting a call about their microchip.

So, if Murray has a microchip, Mom will respond to all those people on NextDoor, telling them to expect a call from the humane society about their cat. And then, we wait. Will someone come forward? Will multiple someones come forward? Will there be a brawl in our driveway over collecting their lost cat? Will they have missed Murray? Will we finally learn Murray’s real name?

Enough worry about all that. Here’s a photo of a bowl of donut peaches sitting on our counter. We had no idea these were so juicy and delicious, because they certainly don’t look it!

Donut Peaches © Colehauscats.com

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A Colehaus Cats flashback:

2022 – No post
2021Craziness
2020 – No post
2019 – No post
2018Wednesday Words
2017 – No post
2016 – No post
2015Ruby Tuesday
2014Stories with Maxx
2013 – No post
2012 – No post

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7 Responses to 08/18/2023 – Garden Cat

  1. Your heart tells you to do the right thing, despite the past debacles.
    It’s for Murray, after all.
    We will hope with you that someone responds in a timely manner, with good grace.

  2. Rene S says:

    Next Door can work! Our next-door neighbors recently found a kitty, and my husband posted some photos on Next Door. Someone knew the owner, and they got their kitty back. Turns out she was elderly and wandered off.

  3. mary mcneil says:

    Those peaches look like apples ! Glad you explained so we can seek some out.

    Maybe Murray is one of those kitties that has several homes…with multiple people feeding her..

  4. Memories of Eric and Flynn says:

    Murray is a lovely garden cat. Can your mom block the troll? We call those peaches flat peaches, but donut peaches describes them better.

  5. 15andmeowing says:

    Cute kitty. I would keep her- finders keepers. 🙂

  6. Hope Murray has a home that wants her back. We know that’s not always the case – Bonham had no chip and no one wanted him back (but he found a home wif my family).

  7. meowmeowmans says:

    We sure hope Mom Cole’s efforts help find Murray a happily ever after.

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