This feline friend will forever be a part of our family

We loved Gertrude (yes, that's the name of our furry friend). We loved her so much. She was both our friend and a beloved member of our family.

She caught our attention one evening as we were going home with my older sister and younger brother. Every day on our way home, we had made it a habit to walk past a bakery we liked, and check the front window to admire the scrumptious looking pastries and colorful candy shelves. The three of us were kids in secondary school and what we saw on this bakery was our idea of fine delicacies. Whenever we had spare change, we would happily go inside and choose some candies to share while walking home.

This time, we got distracted by a beautiful looking cat who seemed to scamper around without knowing exactly where it was going. It looked like this kitty was looking for something, starring at people to meet their gaze, looking for its way. It kept entering and exiting the bakery with the demeanor of a lost animal. What stroke us was that this cat did not march in the streets with the confidence and poise that we usually see in feline wanderers.

The second thing we noticed is the cat’s large and protruding belly. Obviously, the cat was pregnant. We could even say that it was already in an advanced stage of pregnancy just by looking at the size of her belly. It instantly made us worry about her (she became “her” as soon as we noticed she was pregnant). As I look back now, I reckon that, even before we decided to take her home, she had already found a way in our tiny children’s hearts.

Her large belly gave her a waddling gait that amused us and also made her more endearing to us at the same time. Her stomach balanced from right to left lightly as she kept much nimbleness in her way of walking. However, it was painfully apparent that she had difficulty climbing the four stair steps leading to the entry of the bakery, and each time, she proceeded with caution by making sure her belly did not come in contact with the cold stone of the stairs.

We walked away from the front window of the bakery and approached her gingerly. She did not wear any collar around the neck, or anything that would have led us to believe she belonged to someone. My older sister entered the bakery to ask to the owner if the cat was his, or if he knew the owner. He only replied that it was the first time he saw this cat in the area.

But the cat was clean and smelled nice, she did not have the appearance of a wild cat who had been straying on the streets for days, or weeks. It looked like her previous owners had decided that day that they would drive her away from what had been her home and leave her somewhere so that she could never find her way back. If I had to guess, I would say that maybe they did not want to deal with a pregnant cat, and even less deal with the newborns that were to come.

It did not take us long to decide we wanted to bring her home. Even though we had money to buy candies, we no longer cared about the bakery and focused all our attention on the cat who was still busy strolling around with seemingly no intention to move away from the bakery. It almost felt like she was waiting for her previous owners to come back and get her. It made us so sad to come to this realization because we knew the chances of this happening were slim, if not inexistent.

We approached her again carefully as she was coming down the stairs after exiting one more time the bakery. She was not afraid of us. She rubbed her head and flank on our legs, and welcomed the touch of our small hands on her fur. She was smart enough to know she needed help and a home for her babies. She could not stay on the streets.

As I circled her with my arms, I tried very carefully to lift her from the paved ground, only a few centimeters to make sure I was not hurting her. Even though she did not react violently, she moved in my arms in a way that showed she was not comfortable and that she wanted to be placed back on the ground. So, that’s what I did. We exchanged look with my sister and my brother. We figured we would start walking towards our house to see if she would follow us. It was only a few hundred meters away. As we started walking while keeping our eyes on her, she seemed to hesitate a few seconds, and began strolling slowly behind us.

Several times, she would stop on her tracks and stare at us, as if she wanted to take a short break while asking us silently to wait for her. My younger brother decided to carry her and he managed to do so for a few minutes until she gestured to make him understand she preferred to walk on her paws.

We finally reached our house and let her in the hallway. Of course, my parents along with the rest of my brothers and sisters gathered in the room after they heard the meowing she made. Still, that day, it was less about looking at what the cat dragged in than discovering the cat we brought home.

All I remember is that everyone in the family welcomed her, started petting her and began to talk about names for her. We didn’t care about the fact that she was pregnant. Our only concern was to provide her with an environment safe and cozy enough to give birth to her baby. We knew we needed to find a nook in the house with very dim light conditions and padded with soft blankets and pillows. And that’s how we prepared for her delivery that happened a few weeks later.

We decided to name her Gertrude. We debated for a long time about what was the most suitable name for her, and that’s the one we chose based on her personality and appearance. I know some people may find this name peculiar, or even laughable, but we wanted her name to be as special as she was to us. Gertrude was independent, strong, stubborn (in a good way), and cuddly and affectionate only when she was in a good mood. She also liked to catch smaller animals and bring them as trophies at our feet (although we tried to let her know this was a bad habit).

One time, my mother would not get out of the kitchen for a whole morning because Gertrude caught a really big spider in the garden and brought it to her before dropping it on the floor of the kitchen, just in front of the door. As my mother was terrified of spiders, she did not want to approach the one brought by Gertrude. The sight alone of dead spider frightened her. She had to wait until we were back from school for the lunch break to finally be able to get out, after we got rid of the dead spider. Gertrude was our “wild beast”, and we were so proud of having her in the family.

As I was still a kid when she disappeared, I never knew what happened to her. After long years spent living in our home, one day, she simply did not come back. I don’t think we’ll ever know where she went and what became of her. I only know that we loved her and that we’ll always remember her as a beloved member of our family.

I am sorry about the fact that this story does not have a happy ending. I only wish it could have been otherwise.

P.S: Please don’t make fun of Gertrude’s name. It’s not a joke to us, it’s a special name for a special cat.