Our cat likes to stay outdoors. He’s a black cat with a white nose. We called him KitKat as it was the first thing that came to us on the spur of the moment. He eats his food and leaves on an adventure every day and rarely returns unless it’s time to sleep or eat. We assume he’s great pals with the neighbourhood cats and hope he’s not involved in the screeching battles that we can only imagine is the cat version of fight club from the sounds of the rummaging and clattering.

One day when KitKat was out in the town, a tabby cat with a thick luscious coat sat outside watching me. I wondered if it was judging me, or one of KitKat’s friends. I wanted to say or rather communicate to him that KitKat was away. But he sat there patiently until I noticed he was there. Then he stood and came closer. That curious walk that cats do to see whether they should pounce away at a moment’s notice or to throw the fastest claw to maim its target. I stood as the gatekeeper of the house and he got incredibly close. He watched my reaction intently to see if I would deny him access. But I too was curious and let him pass. He went upstairs and found his way to KitKat’s food and began eating it. Not ravenously but as if he had been invited. I wasn’t quite sure how to deal with this. What do you do if a friend of your kid turned up without warning. In this case, a friend of your cat.

He finished eating, looked at me and left. Til this day, I never saw that cat again. I wondered if it was a complete stranger of a cat who acted as cool as a cucumber. Or whether the cat sensed that I was a cat owner and that I was safe to approach. In this case, curiosity did not kill that cat.