Homeless in Vancouver: Mount Pleasant was the cat's meow

It’s tempting to say I had a close shave of some sort as I passed through Mount Pleasant Friday afternoon on the last leg of my trip to a bottle depot.

Except that I had no such thing.

On the other hand, this cat that I saw on 15th Avenue looked like it had been attacked by militant poodles armed with electric hair clippers!

Closely watched (and shaved) cats

As I went to offer it succour—by taking its picture—a resident came along and cheerfully informed me that the feline I was photographing was none other than “the neighbourhood cat”.

Not a neighbourhood cat, mind you, but the neighbourhood cat.

My first thought was that this neighbourhood should invest in a cat they actually liked.

But apparently the cat hadn’t been subjected to a viscous prank. It had to be shaved like that in the summer for its own comfort because it was…”double furred”, whatever that meant.

The resident also told me how friendly the cat was but I was ahead of him there. The cat had almost tied itself around my ankle in a purr-fect bow.

But it wasn’t long before new people appeared on the opposite corner and my visit with the cute cropped cat was over.

Being the neighbourhood cat is a position with some responsibility, you know?—corners to go, people to greet.

That’s Mount Pleasant living up to its name.