By Carol Wierzbicki
Here’s Olaf, showing off his snow-white belly for Tummy Rub Tuesday. He and his sister Hilda come from a litter that was found at the Ingersoll Houses in Brooklyn a couple of years ago. When Inga, the mother, gave birth to 6 kittens they were all given Swedish names! Olaf is probably at least part Maine Coon but his sister Hilda is your typical short-hair tabby. She isn’t keen on exposing her belly like our “loafin’” Olaf, and like many female felines is ever the alert hunter.
Kiki is our 7-year-old calico. She “tolerates” the young ones but I’m still hoping they’ll one day be friends.
Someone once said that having two cats is like having two cats, but having three is like having a hundred! I’m finding that to be true.
We get all our cats from a great organization called Brooklyn Animal Action https://brooklynanimalaction.org/, which finds pets their forever homes, and cares for strays and ferals with TNR and other services.
I’m working on a novel that has urban cats as characters—deli cats and cats who “work” at local businesses, and even small wild cats who live on the fringes of cities in exotic locales. The aim of my deli cat telling his story is to instruct readers about the dangers of habitat destruction and the importance of communities caring for their own.
