Cat tale

I was already slated to adopt a kitty from a local shelter when I came across Bart running around the mean streets of Bernal Heights. I hadn't meant to keep Bart--I had a new kitty coming home to me soon after all--but finding his owner proved more difficult than I thought it would be. 

I noticed Bart, the pretty gray and white adult cat you can see in below images, dodging car traffic and fending off dogs along a busy commercial corridor here in town. Bart was yowling and hissing and doing a sort of crab walk, fur standing on end, while two dogs were being held in place by their owner. The dog owner sort of looked amused which pissed me off. When the dogs were finally yanked away down the sidewalk, Bart decided to run out into traffic prompting a passerby to yell out, 'Look out, cat!' Then I hopped into the street in order to act as Bart's crossing guard, holding up the palm of my hand to a motorist coming toward us while Bart scurried to the other side of the street.

I wondered who would let their kitty out near such a busy thoroughfare. Maybe he'd escaped from a home unnoticed? He wore no collar and the bridge of his nose with crossed with old scratch marks presumably from tussles with other neighborhood cats. He was friendly, rubbing up against my legs and purring, so I bent down a gave him a few cuddles before deciding to take him to a vet to have him inspected for an ID chip. I got him into my car with little fanfare and drove him to the only vet I could find that would see him short notice. It turned out that Bart was chipped, but the ID no. attached to the chip not registered to anyone, unfortunately. Not wanting to release him back into the area where I first found him, I took Bart home from the vet and made him comfortable with kitty treats, a few toys, a scratching post, and a cat box--all the things that were meant for the cat I was soon to adopt, actually. Bart took to his new situation very well, so I was sure he'd have to have been an indoor cat at some point. But what about now? Where were his people?

My husband and I decided to create a 'Found Cat' post for the 'Cats' section of a local social media platform. Our post received some attention, but no owner stepped forward to claim our new house guest. The next weekend we went back to the neighborhood where Bart was found roaming and I asked around local businesses if they'd recognized Bart. Nobody did.

As you can read, we named him, 'Bart', short for 'Schnurrbart' as he has a wee mustache. I'd still be amenable to returning him to his rightful owners, but, at this point, I'd really rather not as my husband and I have become very attached to him.

Bart and newly adopted kitty playing with ball and ribbon. (Bart is mostly watching new kitty doing all the playing.)

Bart regarding new kitty's paw.