I remember the first time we ever came across Security Cat.  We had expanded the area in which we were searing for cats to catch and fix past the Bitan Bridge.  Just beyond the bridge was a security house where the guards would sit in the evening and bicycles were rented to people on the weekends.  We were looking around and a little orange and white head popped out from under the wooden deck and called to us.  This is a pretty normal occurrence, except that Security Cat had a meow so loud anyone within one hundred meters could hear him.

For the first few weeks he was very afraid of us, only popping his head out to get food and quickly dart back under the deck to eat it.  He didn’t completely trust us, but he sure liked to talk to us.  Before, during and after feeding he told us everything he knew and then some.  As the weeks passed he came out bit by bit and talked more and more.  It was a joke between Brandy and I about how close we would get before he would start to call to us.

The night we captured Security Cat was funny.  It took us a while to get him to actually trust the trap, and when he did finally go in the door kept miss firing and it would go to early or not at all.  I think we fed him almost two cans of food to finally trap him. It was a good thing that his big mouth loved to eat as well.

He stayed with me for the night after being fixed and I didn’t get a minute of sleep.  I have had lots of cats stay here after their operation, but Security Cat seemed to want to talk from the second he recovered to the moment I took him to the bridge.  I returned Angel and Tabby Tail first then came back to the apartment to get Security Cat and wow did he ever let me have it.  Meowing down the stairs, on the motorcycle, all the way to the security office (which had the guards come over to see what I was doing) and then, after letting him out and freeing him, he stopped, looked around him, then started to yell at me again for not having any food there for him.  I made a run to 7-11 a block away for a can and I swear I could hear him the whole way there and back.

After that he became more trusting of us and also started to take care of two little twin orange kittens, Simba and Little Orange.  They became a small pride by the office, with the young boys staying back and Security Cat coming out to talk to us and greet us.  Brandy was the first to be able to pet him and once he got the feeling for human affection he never stopped.  While the brothers would stay back, Security Cat would come right out, meowing and rubbing right against us.  He was still smart a he wouldn’t trust people who were new at first, but with us it was like he was one of our own cats.

A few months back they took down the security house and replaced it with some cheap sheds for the bicycles.  I remember how much Security Cat had to tell me the first night I came.  I think we had an hour-long conversation about where his house went, what they did and where he was staying now (a set of bushes under the stairs by the new sheds).  The security guards always came over and had a big smile on their faces when they saw me feeding him and the brothers.

About a month ago, when the sheds were completed, I did my usual rounds to all the prides.  Simba and Little Orange were there to greet me, but something was missing.  Although they have both learned to be quite talkative by Security Cat, he just seemed so quiet and empty without him there.  I’m used to a cat being gone some nights, but a few nights later it was the same thing, only the brothers… no Security Cat. 

For the last month I have convinced myself that Security Cat moved on when the security house came down and the sheds went up, looking for a new place, or a more secure territory, but for how loving and affectionate he had become over the past months, I still had that bad feeling.  He had a great spot to live and the security guards even have bowls out where they put food and fresh water out for the cats each night.  He was a really lucky guy.

Last night when Brandy and I were out feeding the cats, the Taiwanese woman who feeds all the cats every night gave us the bad news.  The homeless man who sleeps by a set of benches around the corner from Security Cat and the brothers was really drunk one night, got Security Cat to come to him, picked him up, then slammed him into the ground, killing him.  As I sit here and type, I hope to whatever god was looking out for that cat that it was one hit and no suffering, but it never should have happened. 

Was he too loud?  Did he bite him?  Did he keep the guy awake at night having conversations with friends who fed and loved and took care of him?  All we know was he was drunk and he took a life… the life of one of my cats.  Street cat or not, these cats are my cats.  There are five prides at the bridge and Security Cat was always thought of as one of the leaders… the dominant male of his pride, protecting and taking care of Simba and Little Orange.  Now the brothers are alone.

We’ve lost cats before.  Big Head went missing last year.  Angel died from poisoning a few days after she (and Security Cat) was returned to their areas and others have just moved on in one way or another, but Security Cat… he’s been there for a long time.  I don’t like to rank the cats, but he’s one of the main guys.  I could always count on him, after visiting the other four prides to be there, ready to talk to me into the late hours of the night.  He loved to be scratched behind the ears, something most street cats will never know the joy of, and always showed his affection and appreciation with head butts, full body rubs and licks to your hands when he could smell the fish I’d been giving out all night.

He reminded me of George, my cat of fifteen years back in Canada and I always felt a special connection to Security Cat because of that.  Simba and Little Orange have learned from him how to carry on a conversation, but I hope they have also learned that not everyone can be trusted.  I miss my Security Cat, his head popping out from under the dark deck of the security house, the full-volume tales he would tell us each and every night, and I miss that look on his face after he would eat, just before he began to clean himself.  He would look at me like he didn’t have a care in the world and that he knew, of all the people that walked by him each and every day, I was his friend and I truly cared about him.

More cats will come and others will go, but there will never be another one like Security Cat.  That void near the sheds, by the bushes, under the stairs will always remind me of him.  Another cat who never knew he was dealt a rough hand, gone too early from all our lives.

Rest in Peace Security Cat…

above - Security Cat relaxing after food and affection one night

below - Security Cat the night he was returned to the bridge area

and Little Orange, one of the brothers Security adopted as his own