HOW I BEFRIENDED GINGER 

You are probably wondering who 'ginger' is? Well, she is a stray cat who arrived at my home one day. She was hungry, thirsty, scared and shivering. She was so scared, she would not let me go near her and help her. She kept meowing at me loudly as if asking for help.

I sat down cross-legged in front of her and spoke to her in a calm and soft voice. That seemed to calm her nerves. 

I had no cat food available at home and i could not get out of my house due to the current covid situation. I had nothing to give her but some milk and water.

I gave her some milk. she was so hungry, she did not take a minute to lick that bowl empty.

She kept meowing at me after she had the milk. I guess she wanted more, so i gave her another bowl of milk. She licked that off in a minute too. 

She is a really talkative cat and would keep meowing at me to get my attention. She cautiously came a little close to me to sniff my feet. Cats sniff the feet of people for various reason, to know if being around the person is safe or not, or just curiosity.

It generally takes a good amount of time for a stray cat to trust someone. Most stray cats run away at the sight of a human as they have seen a harsh life on the streets. But this one was different. She actually approached me instead of running away. I did not have to make any effort to calm her down. I noticed that she had a beautiful light orange coat with dark orange stripes. Hence, i named her 'Ginger'.

After she had finished all of her milk, she took a casual walk around my house. Sniffing everything and rubbing her head against trees, walls, and doors. If you are wondering why cats do that, they do it to mark their territory or mark a place they trust. She walked around with her tail held high, which shows confidence.

She was curious of her surroundings. Sniffing and touching everything.

It was unusual that she stayed so close to me. She would follow me around wherever i went.

She is one wonderful kitty!!

She then climbed the fence and disappeared on the streets where she had come from. I never expected that she would come back everyday at the same time, being such a punctual cat!

Everyday, around noon, she would come at the door and start meowing loudly. She is a very persistent cat! she would never give up until she got her decent bowl of milk. She has a gentle and sweet meow. Cats recognize people by their voice and their scent, and whenever she saw me, she would come running to me, meowing loudly and rubbing her head against my leg. 

Cats have their own way of showing their affection towards humans. They rub their heads against ones legs to release their pheromones or 'scent' on the human. That way, she could sniff you out from a distance.

Some fun facts about cats-

1. Cats meow only to get a human's attention. They communicate with other cats with other sounds inaudible to humans.

2. Just like humans have different fingerprints, cats have tiny microscopic bumps on their nose whose pattern is different in every cat.

3.Cats are extremely possessive of humans

4.Cats actually know when you call them out by their name, they get habituated to it very quickly. But sometimes, they choose to ignore humans for no reason and might be dominating. Cats have some serious attitude!!

Eventually she became more and more habituated of me, my house and my family. She would hate it if i left her for a second! If she thought i was going for the door, she would stand in front of the door blocking it! She would stay close to me when she walked around. She would not hesitate to take a nap wherever she liked.

Sometimes she seemed kind of lazy. She would roll, stretch and yawn for a long time under the sun.

Cats are the cleanest animals, she would always dig a hole to do her business and cover it well with soil afterwards.

Sometimes, she would arrive at my home as usual and meow loudly. When i would give her milk, she would not drink it. She would lead me to my lawn because she wanted to play!

She would roll around in the grass, then she would circle around me.

She would also headbutt me out of playfulness. This is called bunting, cats do it to express their affection to someone or something.

She also never fails to pose for the camera.

She is always camera ready and enthusiastic. 

Sometimes she would give an awesome pose and sometimes she would totally ignore me. Well, i did mention the attitude, didn't i.

After a few days i heard some other tiny meows with ginger's usual meow. As i went to investigate, What i saw melted my heart.

Ginger had three little and healthy kittens. She shortly Took the kittens elsewhere but she still keeps coming to my house everyday for milk. 

Cats never keep their kids at one place. They move them from place to place to ensure their safety.

So, this is how i helped a stray cat, Ginger and gave her happiness. Just imagine what kind of harsh life she must have faced on the streets. Cats are marvelous creatures. with intelligence and affection beyond our imagination. They have excellent concentration too! If ginger has her eyes set on a squirrel, she would not move a muscle.

 Just a bowl of milk can earn you a friend. That is what i experienced from my incident with ginger.

It is also a great stress relief method to be around animals. And cats are the best animals according to me.

I hope you liked this blog of mine. If you liked my photography, do mention it in the comments below. Stay tuned for the next blog. Till then, meow!

THANK YOU.