One day, a cat – whom we shall refer to as Cat X – was outside, committing the heinous crime of ‘roaming without due care and attention’. Injury ensued but he managed to limp his way to a friendly safe house where his newly acquired surrogate family took pity on him and whisked him off to the nearest vet for treatment. He quickly recovered but his microchip information wasn’t up to date and so his new family were unable to return him to his regular home even though his regular home was only six doors away. Poor Cat X.

Anyway, long story short, Cat X and owners were soon reunited and the love continues to this very day. With new furry faces appearing in gardens all over the place on a regular, transient basis, it may be safe to assume that this sorry tale could easily be repeated time and again. But in this day and age surely there is a more effective method to find an aimlessly wandering feline than the traditional photo stapled to a tree? If only there was an interconnected, global information network that could be easily accessed using some form of hand-held device . . . HANG ON! If you own one or more of these furry little herberts, live in the West Hill area and think that sharing information about our kitties with a view to their well-being is a good idea, then go on Facebook and look for the group: West Hill Cat Watch. It’s what your cat wants . . . probably.

* I lied about there being two cats. There was just the one. Sorry.

Iain Cochrane