This is Morris. I don’t know who he belongs to. I was walking last night when I saw him resting with his back to a planter, looking like he ruled the world, as cats often do. Normally the cats in my neighborhood skedaddle when they see a stranger coming, but not Morris. He just stared at me, so I took out my camera to take a picture of him because I thought he was one of the prettiest cats I had ever seen. I was doing that when an older woman walked up and talked for a very long time about Morris. This is how I know his name.
I thought Morris belonged to her, so when I noticed how thin he was I asked her when he had last been fed. She said he belonged to the neighbors who moved, but another neighbor told her Morris stayed behind because, “Kim said he didn’t want to go with her.”
This so-called Kim also gave away her dog, too, so I doubt very much Morris put up a paw and said, “You know, I’m good. I’ll just stay here and scavenge.” I think Morris got left behind and I told the woman as much. Since I knew she had cats (she told me all about her pets), I asked her if she could feed Morris until I came back the next day to meet with the new homeowners. If they knew nothing about Morris, I would make arrangements for his care. The new owners weren’t at home last night or I would have given them the guilt trip then.
No, she didn’t want to do that because (1) “It’s not my problem” and (2) she didn’t want to attract coyotes.
Really. You don’t say.
Then she said he cries all the time, and maybe he’s lonely. I said, maybe, but maybe he’s also really, really hungry because I know those neighbors moved two weeks ago. If the Mister and Mikey weren’t so allergic to cats I would have taken Morris home to live a life of luxury. Stupid allergies!
We agreed I would come back Friday with food and help so Morris didn’t starve. [Pointed stare.] I turned to walk home and didn’t get 10 feet before Morris came trotting after me mewling the whole time. I felt my resolve wavering. And, yes, I also felt smug because the neighbor looked shocked and a little bit jealous. She called Morris back and when she did I asked her (nicely) if she was going to feed him because otherwise it wasn’t fair to call him over and then go inside her house. Morris stood between us like a kid at a custody drop off.
She said she wasn’t going to feed him because blah blah blah coyotes and in my head I said THAT’S IT!
I gave Morris a whistle and called out his named (I’m a dog owner of over 30+ years–I have no idea what I’m doing with cats), but he came and heeled. Then he followed me the mile home. At one point I passed a group of kids playing and one boy stopped what he was doing and said, “Whoa. Lady, are you walking your cat like a dog?”
“Kind of!” I said. Then I called the Mister and asked him to go across the street and borrow cat food from the neighbor because I kind of was bringing home a cat because I had no choice. Morris was starving and he was following me and he needed us.
He was not pleased. He was the opposite of pleased. He might have said, “You are not bringing home a cat. We will never have a cat. If you want me to tick me off, bring home a cat.”
“Technically, I’m not bringing him home. He’s following me, so really it’s like Morris made the decision for us.”
“Jules.”
“I’m not kidding!”
“I’m not either.”
“I’m telling you, he’s following me like a puppy dog. My hands are tied.”
“Uh huh. Right.”
When I got home he was still the opposite of pleased and there was no cat food because he was “busy cutting a pineapple.” No matter! I went across the street, got the food, fed and watered Morris, and showed him to the boys. Nico immediately fell in love. Mikey hid behind the door until I confirmed he would not go into anaphylactic shock, but then he fell in love. They fell in love because Morris is lovable. I called the Mister outside to “look at how skinny the poor thing is!” and he did, briefly, before giving me a look that said I brought home a cat. Then he went inside to cut more pineapple.
After the Mister finished cutting the world’s most important pineapple, he went outside to toss out the trash. I heard him talking to Morris and instead of scaring him off, he made sure he didn’t get trapped in the garage as he shut everything down for the night. When the dogs went outside and started barking at Morris, he had the boys bring them back inside. I looked at him and smiled.
He scowled and said, “We do not have an inside cat!”
This is Morris. I don’t know who he belongs to, but I’m hoping it’s us. We all know the decision is up to Morris.
Cats choose their hoomans, you lucky girl… Good luck to you and your new furry family member! :)
Awwwww! Lovely story. He’s so handsome. I hope he sticks around ( and yes, stupid allergies!).
I love this story! I do hope he stays (allergies or no). Sounds like he knows who he can trust though. Seriously cannot believe either of those women.
I’ve always liked you Jules, but now I kinda luv ya. Thanks for saving this handsome guy.
Oh and that lady and his old owners? Jerks doesn’t even begin to describe it.
Morris is the kindest cat I have ever met in my life–and he is beautiful to boot. How can you leave him behind? How can you give away your dog? And how can you watch an animal starve? I don’t get people. I really don’t.
i loved this story… cats have a mind of their own and certainly know what they want. i’ll be curious to see what happens next!!
:c)
I have allergies too but I have a dog ;c) Morris is a very special cat. He reminds me of Marmalade, the orange neighbourhood cat that made friends with everyone, everywhere, but lived with one family. He, like all orange cats, *are* indeed dogs – smart, funny, loyal, friendly and very discriminating. You are very lucky. Perhaps he can have a cat door into the garage with a lovely bed.
Aww… lucky Morris (& you guys)!
As always, love the writing… my husband and I have had this exact same ‘conversation’ (though never over a cat) a million times. You capture the nuances of marriage perfectly. :)
Look at that ridiculously long tail! Look at those pleading eyes! I would have been putty in his paws. Sounds like it didn’t take long to break the Mister down, besides it’s a small act of philanthropy and good example for the kids. ;)
Ooooooo! I hope you get to keep him! I might be wrong here, but I think there is a spray you can get to put on a cat from time to time to keep the dander from affecting the allergic peeps in your house. My aunt had that for her cat- seemed to work, but check with a doc.
He is gorgeous and he deserves a great family like yours.
Oooh Morris is such a handsome cat! I say you keep him ;)
What a wonderful story! Happy tears are a great way to start the day. Thank you, Jules! I feel for Morris like I felt for the dog we rescued last year. Sometimes, I just want to witch-slap the previous owners. Our dog, Meadow, has the sweetest soul. How could anyone treat her that way? How did they not see how special she is? (I was never a dog person until I met her!) They do find a way to wiggle into your heart almost instantly, don’t they?
Ohhhhhh…love this story best of all! Morris the cat – and he’s orange. I have had cats all my life and the orange males are the nicest cats ever. Currently have one named Charlie. So…now you and the whole world will know I’m a crazy cat lady. We have my indoor cat, younger daughter’s indoor cat, and older daughter’s indoor cat who hasn’t (yet) moved to DC with older daughter.
Then there’s the outdoor cat we feed because we found her as a kitten and she’s psycho and completely unadoptable.
Then the two cats abandoned by our neighbor last year – who happen to be two of the nicest cats I’ve ever encountered. They are best friends and I not only feed them I now pay for shots and vet visits. Yes – that is 6. When people ask how many I have I say I feed 6, but won’t admit to owning 6.
Morris is one lucky guy!!
Our orange tom cat is named Charlie as well! The family we adopted him from had little girls that wanted to name him Garfield. We were vehemently opposed to Garfield but are friends with the family so we asked if Garfield could be his middle name. The girls were pleased as punch about that so “Charlie G” is what he gets called if we’re being snarky. Otherwise it’s Charlie, Charles, Handsome, and Bubbers. Yeah, I don’t know where Bubbers came from either but it’s just what slips out when he looks pitiful and cute.
Morris is a keeper!
You write a blog about William Morris and you end up with a cat named Morris. REALLY?! He was destined to be your kitty. I think you are awesome for rescuing that little guy. He’ll be loyal to you forever (says a woman whose sister did the same thing!)
I DIDN’T EVEN THINK OF THAT!
Good for you! And good for the Mister for not being a total curmudgeon. :-)
I agree with Shannon. That’s all I was thinking through this story. That and how the pineapple was probably cut into a million tiny pieces. :-)
I swear, it didn’t even occur to me!
Yes, I thought the same thing about the pineapple! While I totally would have brought the cat home… I could very much also see myself as the annoyed spouse who MUST finish cutting this pineapple NOW. :)
The kitten who followed me home from the grocery store 15 years ago is now snoozing on the rug at my feet. Best. Cat. Ever. The cat chooses its people, indeed.
This gives me hope, because Morris isn’t outside right now! :(
This is the kind of writing I love, Jules, and not just for the topic (though that was important too!). You are awesome!
We had a cat when I was a kid, and she stayed outdoors for years. I was always fearful that she would run away, or get lost or cat-napped or something worse, but she never did. We built a new house when I was in high school, and she found us at our “no pets allowed” apartment building and stayed with us when we moved to the new house, but she was often spotted in our old neighborhood, too. She lived to be a docile old thing before passing at age 22!
Morris looks a lot like Apollo, aka the best kitty in the world. I don’t say that around our current cat, Kona, but it’s true. I lost Apollo almost 15 years ago, but he was a flame point Siamese. Smart, sweet, affectionate, independent, and he would go for walks around Brea just like Morris followed you home. I miss that cat pretty much every day.
Most folks are allergic to cat dander and saliva – if Mikey remembers to wash his hands after pettings and Morris is mostly outside, I bet it will work out just fine.
I think that Morris is beautiful, and you were right not to let him go hungry, but as a woman allergic to cats who was once a girl who owned and loved cats, I do understand the Mister’s reaction. I became allergic in my late teens, and in my early twenties I was made miserable by so many cats that I wanted to hold for ‘just a minute’ that I no longer have the desire to be in the same room with them. Perhaps you could set him up on a few dates with your best friends and neighbors.
Oh, yes. Morris would never come inside the house. I learned long ago that to be with my husband meant no cats (inside the house). :)
You are the cat dominator! I love this story …” he was following me and he needed us”. That did it, you are a wonderful person and handled that mean lady just right. I am constantly luring cats by feeding them. They have this underground cat railroad and the word spreads that I’m an easy touch. I would take them all in but one of my cats doesn’t think that’s such a good idea, so I just continue feeding them outside. I’ve also put a heating pad on an outside patio chair in the winter!
The underground cat railroad might be the best thing I have ever heard.
Awesome! I always thought somehow they mark a symbol on the curb like “hoboes” did during the Depression – Nice lady (aka Easy Touch) lives here.
Morris isn’t outside. :( I know this because the Mister got up first thing to check on him. (See what I mean? I know my husband.) Cats do that, right? Tour around the neighborhood and come back when they feel like it?
Considering Morris has been an outdoor cat for at least 2 weeks (and I’m teetering on the side of life considering how easily he was left behind by the “owners”), he’s probably used to roaming around the neighborhood and coming back for food and loves when he’s ready. That’s how all the outdoor cats I’ve known have operated.
I am a dog person, I love dogs – in fact, I love dogs so much that I can barely tolerate cats. That being said, I come across cats every now and then that captures my heart and leaves me feeling as though I may be a cat person when really arent we all just a lover of animals? I think I have a cat crush on Mr. Morris, those eyes – MEEE-YOW. Cats return to where they are fed, he will be back. Dogs are cute but cats are BRILLIANT.
That is so sweet, I love Morris. We are total cat people, well, dog, chicken, goat too. But I love cats. We have a feral that it took me a year to get close to, now he sleeps on the couch.
He’s probably roaming around and will be back for food!
I am not a cat person, or a dog person or a fish person….but we have all three in our house. So sometimes, things are just fate. What I really want to say though is that your style of writing is so great and easy that I love everything you write. I don’t know if it means anything to you or not, but you and Big Mama (thebigmamablog.com) have the same style of narrating your lives and I actually sign into Feedly every day and am a little disappointed if there’s not a post from either of you to read that day. As a mother of one girl and 3 boys, maybe it’s just that your material is so familiar (hello-baseball year round??) or that we possibly have the same sense of humor (“world’s most important pineapple”—-I’m still giggling) but your blog is a sweet little spot in my day. Thank you!
Thank you, Missy! I’ve actually heard that about Big Mama before, so that’s funny you should say that. Unless, of course, you’ve told me that before. Then it’s just embarrassing that I didn’t remember it was you who said that.
Good on ya, Jules! Hope Morris makes a reappearance later today.
My son & I very much want a dog, the daughter (who is afraid of losing things she loves) is coming around, but the Husband… Oh, the Husband. He is still very dead-set against any pets, and it’s getting old. I’ve longed for a dog for our entire 16 year marriage and think this may be the year. (That we get a divorce! the husband jokes.) :-/
I’m allergic too, so I didn’t really *want* a cat, but when a friend was planning to drop his two at a shelter, I took them both in. He claimed they were sick. I later learned his fianc๏ฟฝe just demanded he get rid of them both. Rage. I still have Baxter and he’s the besssssst cat. I love the guy.
Cricket never did well in the house, so he lived outdoors at our cabin. The thing with outdoor cats… you have to reach a point of peace about them. You’re feeding them, giving them love and a safe place to sleep, but they’ll wander off. They may get hit by a car, they may get carried off by a coyote (definitely happens). It’s always heartbreaking if they disappear, but no matter what, Morris is living a happier life at your place than he lived before. I’m a huge baby about animals, so I would take him to the vet for a checkup and to ensure he’s neutered.
I grew up with parents that have rescued countless kittens from farm roads. They have four barn cats right now that were dumped in their wood pile at mere weeks old. You can’t move EVERY animal into the house and the shelter wouldn’t take them, so they named them, keep them fed, got them all spayed and neutered, let them live in the barn, and go out there to visit for daily cuddles.
Clearly I need a barn to house all the “cats I feed but don’t own.”
My husband does not have the “world’s most important pineapple”, but the “world’s most important dishes to clean”! Very funny.
I am also allergic to cats (like, need ventolin allergic), but I would’ve succumb to the following cat as well! You have a great, big heart.
If Morris still hasn’t shown up, you might check back at the old house. Cats often return to their old stomping grounds and once there he might need some enticement or help getting back. I’m so grateful whenever I hear about anybody extending kindness and care to an animal in need. Thank you for becoming (William?) Morris’s guardian angel.
there are 3 unused barns on our property here in upstate NY and around here that’s a signal to unscrupulous people to dump their unwanted cats outside, especially in winter. As a result, we care for a colony of 30 or so barn cats. Strays, unwanteds and kitty escapees from abuse all seem to know where we are – free meals twice a day, roof over their heads, insulated straw-filled boxes in winter (we call them the kitty condos), oversized warming pads, lots of love and of course, mandatory trip to the spay/neuter clinic. My friend jokes that our address must be printed in a cat newspaper somewhere advertising all of the above. ;-)
Might I add we also have a few pampered and adored indoor kitties so life here is pretty full of cats. We can’t turn them away, or, god forbid, ignore their hunger (unlike some heartless people -ahem). We’ve also spayed/neutered and homed over 40 more over the past 10 years. It makes my blood boil to hear about people who look the other way or worse still, walk away from a responsibility, but at the same time I’m so overjoyed when somebody like you comes along and does the right thing.
Ahh! How much do I love this entry. That is a pretty darn cute cat. The line about your husband cutting the world’s most important pineapple is full of amazing too :)
This is gonna sound really intense for someone who has only commented a couple of times before, but I love you. Please never stop writing.
You just watch, Morris and the Mister are going to bond like crazy! That weird, macho-men-don’t-like-cats thing fades awfully fast once a cat starts working his magic!
Aww…. He is adorable and so so smart!!! That’s some great arguing there!
Awww! Good on you for making his life a little bit better.
I adopted a cat from the pound a year ago, and my boys named him William–best 15 bucks I ever spent…I love that cat. <3
Aw. He’s beautiful. Hopefully he will work well with your household!
Has he come back?
No, and I’ve been out looking for him at least 4 times.
I’m sure he will make it back to you Our psycho outdoor cat shows up every 3 or 4 days regularly. I’m not sure where she is the rest of the time – she’s not nice enough for anyone else to want to take care of her! Please do let us know about Morris.
Hi there, I hope you find Morris again. He may have gone back to his old place. Our vet explained that there are “place cats” and “people cats”, the trick will be to convince him that you are his people. Claritin is a beautiful thing BTW….Our cat came to us, we think the neighbors moved and left her behind. she got xrayed this year and the vet found an old BB in her, makes me want to hate people! She found out that we had cat food and decided we were hers, and 7 years later, she’s still here.
There is really no way to say no to a cat that wants to be with you, allergies or no. As I read this I have a box of tissues and a ventilin inhaler next to me and a former Thai street cat (now a Hong Kong high rise cat) sitting behind me reading over my shoulder. His name is Pete (short for P.I.T.A., short for Pain In The….well, you know) and he drives me nuts but somehow I know I’m the lucky one here.
I rescued a flame-point kitty from the Humane Society that looked like Morris. Mine was a big guy – great cat, fun personality, not good at judging distances and a little cross-eyed, but gorgeous and very interactive. Enjoy Mr. Morris!
I had two cats once that took walks with us in the evenings, most awesomest cats ever. I hope Morris stays with you, because I bet he is also a most awesomest cat ever.
Shannon said exactly my thought: Morris?!?! Too perfect; dovetails perfectly with William Morris!
There are allergy shots for humans; we all received them for years enabling us to open the back door as we as our hearts. Either way, this sweetheart will be richly blessed by your heart! And I have never seen a cat follow someone for a mile!! You have been chosen, indeed. Enjoy.
Jules, I’ve been reading your blog for a little while (I was lured by the William Morris Project, then became captivated by your writing and enchanted by your utterly delightful boys). I’ve always felt shy about commenting, but right now I just want to HUG you for speaking up on Morris’s behalf. Animals just seem to know when they have found someone who cares, and I do hope Morris decides to stay with you.
OK, I loved Morris the moment I saw his handsome face (and straight tail) on Instagram. I love him all the more now. Best story ever. Sigh.
Also, don’t give up if he doesn’t stick around at first. Our neighbor’s cat, Flat Stanley, showed up at their house, but it took him awhile to settle in . . . to realized he was home and loved.
You made me cry. Every cat I’ve ever had was, at first, a stray. Thank you so much for taking care of Mr. Morris. The world needs more people like you and your family.
Is there a Morris update? I keep hoping that he has decided that you are his new family.
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