Our school has an abundance of stray cats wandering around. As a cat lover with a cat allergy, I’m extremely thankful for all of the chances to see kitties every day. Ironically, my roommate is also a cat lover who is allergic to cats, and she spends even more time with them than I do. In fact, she has named most of the cats on campus.
First, there’s Marian–that’s the cat who lives outside of the library (for The Music Man fans, you will understand the reference). I have an interesting relationship with Marian. She is a bit of a drama queen and only allows people to pet her on her terms. When she’s tired of you, she may scratch you, so I usually avoid her. But she’s very pretty and usually has a cluster of students huddled around her, taking pictures of her.
Smudge and Not Smuch live not far from the library. They are both white, but Smudge has a spot on his/her nose.
Diana lives near Kendra’s classroom building.
Cobra lived by the river. He got his name because Kendra once saw a cobra on campus, and one day she and I were walking along and a kitty jumped out of the bushes at us and we were both quite startled.
Mustache Kitty has a discoloration above his mouth that looks like a mustache.
The other day, Kendra and I were walking on the road by the students’ dorms. There are lots of kitties in that area (the students often feed the cats. I think there is even a club called the Love Cats Club who take it upon themselves to care for the cats). We saw a truck parked by the road and a kitty was sitting on the hood of the truck. It was so cute so Kendra and I went over to say hello.
During the summer and winter holidays, the cats tend to be even more friendly. My theory is that their normal food supply is gone, and so they try to make you think they care about you so that you will give them food. I don’t mind. I’m a huge fan of cats who like me.
I’m so glad that I live in a place with so many delightful kitties. I’m sure I forgot about some of them, and Kendra can add the others that I have forgotten, but that will give you a general idea of the cat community on campus.
There are so many cats, that our school name has been adjusted from Foreign Language University to Feeding Cats and Fish University (广东外语外贸大学–广东喂鱼喂猫大学; Guangdong waiyu waimao daxue–Guangdong weiyu weimao daxue; the pun is in several characters that sound similar). What a wonderful place to live and work!