A sadly large number of cats in our Val di Lima are either strays or poorly looked after. When I first came here fifteen years ago I started taking these cats from Longoio to be neutered at the province’s animal health centre formerly at Ponte al’Ania. Despite the fact that cats are not very good at keeping appointments I managed to have a large part of Longoio strays neutered.
A neighbour brought a cat in a particularly poor condition to my attention. The cat looked very sad and looked very undernourished. Its coat was matted, one of its eyes was infected and its claws were in-growing.
We found the cat actually belonged to a lady who, regrettably, was in very poor health herself. Sadly she has since left the world.
Fortunately, the cat turned out to be very friendly and was easily caught. Carlotta even made friends with it:
My neighbour did wonders in returning the cat to a more presentable condition and also managed to trim her claws.
The cat even got the new name of ‘Rat Scabies’, not so much because of the condition in which it was first found but after the stage name of Christopher Millar, drummer of the pioneering punk-gothic rock band ‘The Damned’.
‘The Damned’ started up in 1976 and still going strong, (though without Rat Scabies, who has now gone solo).
Here are some pictures of the Longoio version of Rat Scabies.
She is definitely a bit long in the tooth but I am sure her last years will be spent in purrfect comfort.
Incidentally, there is a special Italian word for someone who feeds stray cats. It’s ‘Gattaia’. Earlier this year I visited Rome where ‘Gattaie’ have got together to form an excellent cat refuge in Largo Argentina. My post on that is at:
I do feel that people can often be divided into those who have an affinity with cats and those who don’t. It is the same with so many other animals. I had a friend who had a very close link with beetles. Regretfully I could not share his passion although, change a vowel, I still love to hear their songs…