I can’t tell you how much it breaks my heart that some cats are inside and loved, and some are outside and unnamed. That’s one of the reasons I start by giving a name to the regulars in the colony. It’s the first part of having a place in the human world. It’s so easy to dismiss a nameless hoard, but not at all easy to turn away from a specific person with a face and a name and a story. We humans are suckers for that.

Wilma has made a small place for herself in our colony, with the help of her goofy and stubborn brother, William. She hated the brief month she stayed in captivity to take care of her babies with their foster mom. She was more than happy to get nipped and be released back to her independence.

But I still catch her on the windowsills looking inside, and I wonder if she ever misses the other life. Does she know it was so close, and she could have been a spoiled indoor cat like her daughters? Would she give up her freedom for another chance at being an indoor cat?

I think every cat deserves the indoors life of a cherished cat. As soon as humans domesticated them, cats became a responsibility. Despite the fact that they can be furry jerks sometimes (can’t we all?), most people will agree that animals deserve respect.