Paying back the fates for returning my cell phone to me
Today I was walking home from work and I was about 10 minutes from my house when a large gray cat started meowing loudly. It was moving slowly down the sidewalk. I shut off my music and said hi to it - as I naturally do with all cats. As I was on a main road lined with abandoned stores, I looked to see if I could see where it had come from. There was no obvious owner in sight, but as the cat looked a bit mangy but not in distress, I continued on my way.
Not a half minute later I saw a homemade sign taped to a light post. Even in the photocopied likeness the picture looked incredibly like the cat I had just passed. Which looked incredibly like the cat on the Simpsons (not Itchy and Scratchy, but their pet, and someone can clue me into the name because I can't be arsed to Google it). I scanned the sign quickly - lost, loud meow... That's what did it for me. The bit about the loud meow.
I turned back around and by this time the cat was lying on the sidewalk. I tore off one of the phone numbers on the sheet and ran back to the cat. I think that despite looking not too bad, it was overcome with the heat. I started petting it and calling its name. The whole time I was rummaging through my bag with my other hand, trying to locate my cell phone.
As I was waiting for the number to connect, a woman came out of the beauty salon in front of me. She told me that she thought the cat on the poster had already been found. She was holding another copy of the poster in her hand. At that point a man answered the number I had dialed. I started babbling.
"Yeah hi. Uh, did you find your missing cat? No? Oh well I think it's here. Yeah wait...[as I read the poster the woman handed to me]...green...and pink...collar...yeah...this is your cat. He's a little worse for wear but otherwise fine. So can you come here now? Should I pick him up? Will he bite? No wait - I'll stay here and watch your cat and you come here now."
I think the guy had managed to say about two sentences in amongst all of my chatter. He lived just around the corner. Me and the salon owner and another woman who lived nearby all stayed around the cat. I was still seated on the sidewalk petting it. A guy showed up quickly. Apparently the cat had been missing for two weeks. He scooped the cat into his arms and shortly after, the man's very pregnant wife headed down the sidewalk towards all of us. The man thought I'd found the cat at a bar. I explained that I had walked into their cat on the sidewalk. We surmised that someone had originally taken the cat as its id tag had been torn off.
I went on my way to the grocery store and left the cat lying in his human's arms.
It was kind of strange. We were all so low key. Believe me, if one of my cats went missing for two weeks I would be screaming with joy and hugging her none stop upon her return. This was all very casual, or maybe it was that in this heat none of us could process it all.
So here are my questions... I'm glad the guy was home, but if he hadn't been, what could I have done? I was going to pick up the cat and take it home with me, but that's always a risk of infection for my other cats. Also, carrying a strange cat in my arms by a busy street for over 10 minutes was not a process I was looking forward to. Still, the cat was apparently 20, so I wouldn't have left it outside. If it had been a dog and the owners hadn't been home, I don't know what I would have done. There's no way I would bring a stray dog into my home - I like dogs, but I'm scared of them.