yoshi mothers the fosters

yoshi was three days old in a cardboard box outside a restaurant when we got the call. he had three siblings, all noisy. he was the quiet one. they were all bottle-fed every two hours, day and night, for the first weeks.

by the time they could leave, the other three had families lining up. nobody asked about yoshi. it might be because he doesn't perform — he's just there, very gently, in any room you put him in. he was supposed to stay a fortnight. that was three years ago.

the thing nobody tells you about cats raised this way is that they sometimes decide they are little parents. yoshi mothers every foster who comes through here. he washes their ears. he sleeps next to them on the first night. he does not play with them, exactly — he supervises. when they cry, he goes to find them.

no one taught him this. he just decided.