Louie de cat

The trip to London was interesting. I met a cat on the bus. Now I know in Australia animals are not allowed on public transport. Here is it totally different. I could write a book about dogs I have met on my travels, but a cat on the bus was a first. Why, you ask? A cat in a cage. Travelling. Yah, okay, it happens. This cat did not stay in his cage, but quite happily sat on his owner's lap the whole trip.

Let's start at the beginning. The bus to London stops at a number of places. Eventually, all the seats had one person sitting in them and people had to double up. This woman came to me, arms full of all sorts of things, and asked if I minded cats. I looked at her a bit puzzled. I hadn't noticed the cage in her hands. I said I love cats. I have two of my own and where I'm staying right now has two cats. So she sat down beside me, with a bit further chat, and place the cat cage on her lap.

Fine. Then she opened the door of the cage. I thought, Okay??? Now we are going to have to worry about this cat wandering the bus. Eventually, Louie poked his head out of the cage and started investigating his surroundings. Lovely looking fellow. Long haired.

As time went on, the cat hopped out of the cage, and she put it down on the floor and Louie started to investigate a bit further. He started to head to the floor. His owner touched him and said: No, you stay on my lap. And he did. For the next hour or so, while we were talking, she petted him, and he sat there, quite happily on her lap.

In the course of our conversation, she talked a bit about Louie and his travel adventures.

On one of his trips, train, they were sitting in one of the sets of four seats, which in the UK have a table in the middle. She mentioned that there were three business looking men, wearing suits, that sort of thing. She needed to go to the loo, so she sat Louie on the seat, told him where she was going and to stay where he was. She did say that the others in the seats gave her a bit of a funny look. When she came back, Louie had found a lap to sit on with one of the men. But he hadn't gone wandering around the train.

I don't remember all the stories she told me of Louie's travels. But she, and the cat, were both fascinating.

At one stage, the bus driver's offsider came and moved the cage, reckoned it was in the way if there was an emergency. Louie looked at him, and needed some time to resettle himself when his home went off down the bus aisle. But he did.

When it was time for her to get off, she hooked Louie over her arm, picked up her packages, popped him back into his cage and off she went. One very happy little cat and his owner.

Madeleine

Friday, 16 January 2009