Pussy Magnet

There's just something about my apartment that draws all sorts of random cats to it. Inevitably, they try to move in. It isn't just my place, but the other 3 apartments have experienced this phenonmenon as well. Gigi, a frisky neighbor's cat, would often hang out with the dog downstairs after having flirted her way through everyone's else's vacinity. The cat next door can often be found on our steps, and a black & orange calico is in the habit of storming my front door when I get home.

Last Saturday night/Sunday morning, I dragged myself home with a migraine after a DJ gig at about 3:30 in the morning and somehow got to sleep soon after. But a little "Mew! Mew!" woke me up about 6am. I shut my windows, wanting to have no part of whatever cute kitten was in distress outside, because if a cute kitten was in distress outside, it was gonna wind up in my apartment before long. But it turned out it was already in my apartment, sorta. It was on the landing outside my hallway in my laundry room. Luckily for me, it had a collar, name and phone number... so not completely lost.

She was a little black and white short hair, prone to purring, named Anita. I picked her up and said, "Listen, I'm really tired, so I need you to be quiet so I can get some sleep. We'll hang later." She was quiet. The next afternoon, my neighbor called: "Is that your cat on the landing?" She was still there, and very happy to see me. And she stayed there till about Tuesday afternoon.My roommate and I probably played with her more than our cats appreciated. We also made her a little bed and left her some food and water. She was a fun little thing. I had called her owner's number, but got a "memory full" message, so I figured they must be on vacation or something.

After talking with the neighbors, it turned out the cat had been crashing in the building for about a week. Buncha softy cat people, we are...

This Friday night as I was getting out of my car, a woman approached me and asked me if I had seen a little black & white cat. I said, "Anita?" She said, "Yes! I've been looking for her all night; she got out last night." "You mean she got out a week ago." The woman said, "I've been housesitting and, well, you know how cats get out." "No, I haven't seen her, but if I do I'll bring her by."

Saturday morning rolled around and my parents were in town. The Sunset Junction Street Fair was just kicking off for the weekend, so we decided to check it out. We were heading towards Sunset and I was telling them about Anita when there she was, running straight for me, all "Mew! Mew!" and everything.

So I picked her up and walked her over to her house. As I did, a family in a Volvo drove up. The dad got out and said, "You doing a little catnapping?" "Well, not unless it's necessary," I replied. I told him how I was just bringing her home because I'd heard she had escaped again. "Oh, well, we're housesitting, and we hoped to have her back before they got home."

"You're housesitting?" My mom said. "Yes," replied the man. "Well, you're doing a horrible job." "What?" he said. "This cat could have been hit by a car or eaten by coyotes and it's not even yours. Are they actually paying you for this? Because I wouldn't!" Then my mom did an old lady style "harumph" noise which caused this guy to go completely red. I handed him Anita and said, "Maybe you'd better keep an eye on her till the real owners get back." He didn' answer, but we also haven't seen Anita again.

I guess the moral of this story is keep your cats locked up when in Silverlake, or they will wind up at my house. And you'll run the risk of getting bitched out by my mom. Trust me, that sucks.