Neither Erica nor Kent own a cat. Apparently a stray cat is not paying attention to either of them. Right after the furry hobo’s arrival, it began inspecting Kent’s kitchen for cat treats.

 

The stray, Squeaker, has made herself at home. She arrives every morning at 5 AM, demands that Kent open the door, feed her treats, before retiring to ‘their’ living room. She jumps up onto the back of the couch and curls up for her first catnap of the day - on the lush sheep skin.

 

Then Kent’s tenant, Erica, moved in and Squeaker thought, “If one treat producing home is good, let’s make it two!”

 

Kindhearted Erica is allergic to cats, but Squeaker was once again not listening. She demanded treats, which Erica purr-omptly went out and bought. Then as winter approached Erica felt sorry for the kitty, she named Cloe and let her sleep in her unit.

 

“She’s my friend,” said Erica. “I am from the east coast and don’t have friends here in the west yet, so the cat is good company. Quarantine is lonely and she fills an important need. I appreciate her company.”

 

Now, here is Kent thinking that the exhausted stray spends the entire night out catching mice when she materializes at his door at 5 AM! Instead, the smart cat emerges from Erica’s unit and wanders a full 20 feet over to Kent’s door pleading to come inside.’

 

Not only has Kent, who gave all his cat paraphernalia away after his last cat died, made Cloe a cat post and regularly replaces her favorite treats and admits, “She loves tummy rubs.”

 

Both, ‘I don’t own a cat’ cat owners realize that when they let the cat outside in the summer, they find her sleeping under shade bushes ten feet from their doors. She is obviously no longer a ‘stray’ straying as she doesn’t leave their yard.

 

“When I saw this unit’s rental listing, the photo of the yard included Cloe,“ said Erica. “I’ve seen her on the roof and when she’s not asleep she’s hunting mice and bugs. During the day, she wanders in and checks on me.  In the winter she sleeps inside on ‘her chair’, unless she’s sleeping at Kent’s. When she wants attention, she plops on the floor in front of you and reaches her arm out towards you. Her voice is a soft squeak, thus Kent’s name for her, but I thought she was ladylike and deserved a dignified name like Lady Cloe.  Thankfully, she arrived spayed, or Kent and I would be dividing up kittens too!”

 

“Last summer, Squeaker arrived with a wound the size of a business card,” said Kent.  “I have no idea if she has a proper owner as she is not chipped. There was no way I would let her suffer and she required immediate medical attention”

 

Kent’s ‘I don’t have a cat’ cat bill was exactly $400.

 

After three years, Erica and Kent keep re-FUR-ing to Miss Cloe Squeaker as ‘the stray cat’, but I bet that the kitty is telling her cat friends that she "lives at the best homes on the block!”.