Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1897-02-25
THE CATS OF SlENA.

q OF the Felines Is This italian
City.
Strangers in Siena often speak of
the great quantity of pet cats to be
seen there. At each doorway OPEN
ing directly on the street sits a pet
cat, staid and respectable, with a
ribbon or some piece Of color tied
about her neck to show that she be-
longs toa human family. Workmen
in their little shops have a cat to
keep them company, sometimes sit
ting on a low counter at the win
dow. All r within reach OF any
teasing hand, but I never saw a cat
chased or leased in any way, and 1t
is plain that they feel perfectly So
cure and do not expect any injury.
Personally l found them unsociable
and that when I spoke to them they
took no notice and made no reply,
even when I learned an Italian word
or two to say to them. They were
happy at home and did not need to
make new friends.
In Naples there are men whose
business it is to feed cats every day
at noon. People with economical
tables subscribe a small sum to have
their cats provided for by the oats
food man. The cats begin to feel
quite hungry about noon and stroll
out from the shops in all those
crowded streets to watch for their
dinner. I could not imagine what
was the excitement among them the
first day 1 was out at that hour.
Presently I saw a part of the daily
distribution on bustling Chiaja.
There were cats there who seemed
to watch what was dealt out to them
very critically, as If they intended
to make a complaint if their dinner
was not as good as it ought to be.
In Florence the cats enjoy the
freedom they love, and never did I
see n chased or looking timid and
anxious as If uncertain where to run
to. I remember a cat 1 used to pass
near the old Medici church of San
spirito. She seemed to live on one
of the upper floors of a tall house,
and she could only look up to her
window by sitting in the middle Of
the street. She would never answer
my greeting, but continued to look
up as if watching her friends or per-
haps signaling to them that she was
ready to go home.
There is a special cat church in
Florence-San Lorenzo, the church
in which SO many Medici are buried.
l don't know whether that family
was particularly fond of cats or how
it happened, but the c~loisters of San
Lorenzo are reserved for homeless
cats, whether they ZONE there by
themselves or are brought by people
who want to dispose of them.
had read in my guidebook that
these animals T fed every day at
noon from scraps brought in by peo-
pie in the neighborhood, 80 l was
particular to time my first visit at
noon and was disappointed to hear
that for some reason the breakfast
hour had been changed to Q a. m.
There is a large, raised green center
in the cloisters, on which grow some
shrubs and trees, and asleep under
the bushes or lettering around the
stone ledge that inclosed the green
were a dozen or two of the charity
cats. Legend says they are witches,
who have consented to take this
harmless shape and to keep out of
mischief. They were rather a dilap-
idated looking lot, but still interest
ing, because all cats have q great
deal of individuality and when pos
sible of independence also.
l cannot envy the horses and dogs
Of Italy, and certainly not the birds,
but If I hadIt to be changed into an ami.
NAL I mig choose to be an Italian
oet.-our nimal Friends.