Sable and Sablette

I continue to feed outsider-cats. There are two new ones whom I have seen, though only once each. One, whom I’ve named Au Lait, is a light creamy brown colour, with a dark brown and white ringed tail. The other is a black and white cat who is missing much of his right ear; I call him Vincent. I have not seen either of these eating from the outside food-bowl or drinking from the water-bowl.

My two regulars are Sable and Sablette. These are the two black cats whom I thought to be mother and daughter. I have learned more about them recently. They are refugees from a dispersed feral colony which had been situated near by. The cats there had all been spayed and neutered by those caring for the colony, and this pair, though related, are in fact sisters.

They know me and know that I feed them. I can tell they are true cats because they tend to show up at night immediately after I take in the food-bowl and just before I set it out in the morning, thus disrupting my schedule at both its ends. However, they seem to appreciate the food.

Sable is the bolder of the two. When they are waiting for the food, she will move away a distance or even retreat just around the corner of the building, and watch. Sablette hastens farther away, and comes back only when I leave. Both of them, though, are at the bowl as soon as I am inside the apartment again. I shake the food in the bowl, and they have come to know the sound of nutrition.

An interesting development is that I have heard them - or one, probably Sable - squeaking. Initially, it was when they were in the concrete ditch (my “patio”) outside my apartment, and secondly, when I was in the bedroom. They appeared at the window and squeaked. They may have been telling me that they were hungry, but I am certain that the food-bowl was already out at that moment. In this instance, they ran away when Parker hurried to the window to look at them.

I am told that they shelter themselves under a near by shed, but before the cold weather arrives again, I will try to interest them in the outside cat-house. It had been urinated on several times during my last attempt, and no one used it. I will try again. Until then, Sable and Sablette look to be in good shape, and, while not entirely trusting, know that I provide sustenance. I like to think it’s a relief to them to know that they have somewhere to go for that.