Now, I suspect only a few of you know about this, but I suffer both from severe eczema of the hands and a rather annoying dander allergy, both of which combine to seal off the possibility of me ever owning a cat. Which, given my legendary love for the little critters, is just the petty joke of some laughing deity.

This means that even if I come across a friendly cat in the neighbourhood, unless I’m sure that I can get inside and wash my hands immediately afterwards, I can’t pet the kitties. However, an alternative jumped into my head the other day.

There’s a beautiful chocolate-coloured cat that sits on top of a fence on my way home from the bus stop – it’s almost the same colour as the fence itself, so it frequently goes unnoticed until you’re almost on top of it. If I were to buy a wee pack of cat treats (the dry stick kind, I was thinking) and I gave one to the cat instead of petting it and thus risking triggering an evening of furious rashes, would that be okay? Or would it be too weird, or would it bother the owner of the cat?

Bascially, imagine if it were your pet – if you saw a stranger feeding it a treat, would it trouble you, or would you be okay with it?

Right, I’d best be off – I do hope I’ll see the kitty today!

M.