Disclaimer: Gotham absolutely does not belong to me
Summary: There are some problems when trying to keep a feral cat as a pet.
Pet:
"I should warn you, detective, you and your fiancé should know; feral cats don't make for good pets. Wild animals can't be tamed."
Maybe Fish Moony's warning should have been heeded, but it wasn't. There were, as to be expected, some problems when it came to trying to keep a feral cat as a pet. James Gordon and Barbara and Alfred and Bruce Wayne were learning this very well. Trying to keep a creature that by nature is wild, is a foolish mistake. James Gordon and his girlfriend were making that mistake now.
Here's the problem. You can't keep a feral cat captive. They just claw and screech and bite until you bend from the pain and strain and let them go.
When James Gordon, knowing Selina Kyle would just break out of Juvie, brought the girl to his and Barbara's apartment, explaining to his girlfriend what was going on, Barbara immediately took a liking to the girl and tried to make her feel as at home as she could. One couldn't smother a cat with affection, especially not a feral cat. Feral cats hate people that try to smother them. Barbara perhaps acted the way one was supposed to act around a creature that had been alone for a long time. She cooked for the wild cat, she smiled encouragingly and asked if the cat needed anything before going to bed.
Unfortunately, such average, normal show of affection appeared to not be appreciated. The next morning the little wild cat was missing from the where Barbara had tucked her in and both she looked everywhere in the apartment, the terrace the hallway of their apartment, everywhere. Jim just sat at the dinner table with a nonchalant expression.
"Where is she?" Barbara asked, deeply concerned for the young girl. Jim didn't want to say it, given he knew how attached Barbara now was to the young street child, but he needed to be honest. "She's run off." He grumbled, frustrated, "Again. Believe me, she's far away now."
Time went by, and as Jim was about to give up looking for the girl on the streets, he went back to his and Barbara's apartment, only to find her sitting on his and Barbara's dining room table, snacking on a box of Count Chocula.
As soon as he saw her and her eyes and his made contact, the feral cat's eyes widened. As if she was caught doing something she shouldn't, as many feral cats will react, she bolted from the table, box of chocolate serial dropping on the table on its side, going for the window.
Had there been more time, Jim might have taken time to laugh at how much like a terrified cat she resembled, jumping, and skittering, but he didn't, he just tried to stop her from leaving.
For all her speed and agility, Jim was still taller and had a longer, wider stride. He caught the cat, hands on her wrists just when she was pulling the window's glass open, pulling her backwards.
The hisses and warning growls of "let me go!" and "I'm warning you, Gordon!" fell on deaf ears. Another mistake on his part. No one should ignore the hisses, growls and snarls of an animal, much less a feral one. As he brought her away from the window, he wasn't guarding himself below the waist. The feral cat brought her right elbow back, hitting a certain sensitive area.
Gordon sucked in a breath and groaned as he keeled over. Selina looked over her shoulder at him, a flash of regret across her face, if only for a few seconds. Gordon, somehow quickly got himself up and saw the cat's face, warmth flooding him as he realized the stray was not unaffected by his pain, even if it was caused directly by her. Seeing his recovery, the cat, panicked, dove for the window again. This time she made it out and jumped onto the ledge.
Gordon raced after her and looked out the window out of desperation, knowing there was no possible way she could have gotten away just yet, but there she was, right on the stone ledge jutting out, bedecked with the howling, grimacing face of a gargoyle. She scooted over to the head of the malformed marble garnish and looked back, seeing Jim trying to step out the window and trying to get her to come back. She gave a feral smile and whirled, dropping off the ledge, almost giving the middle-aged cop a heart attack until he saw she had gripped onto a head of one of the stone gargoyles sculpted into the skyscraper's side. Seeing Gordon stare down at her in shock, Selina smirked and easily shoved her foot off the mantel of the building to another, each purchase of each different stone protrusion getting her lower down the side of the building. Gordon knew this was a survivor and an unusual girl, but he was left to stare, stunned as she hopped from part of the building to another to get down to the ground.
That was a lesson for the detective. You don't hold a feral cat captive. Feral cats are not pets.
However, one can lure a stray into returning again and again of their own free will, if given the right incentive. Barbara Kean learned this quickly with the cat. Offerings of food like ham sandwiches, apples, grapes, noodles, rice (and of course chocolate), it was a very young cat after all, and the like would inevitably draw the kitten back into woman's den. When Barbara would go out, knowing that Gordon was out as well and that there was no way for anyone who didn't have a key to get in through the front door, she left plates of bread, fruits and sliced ham by the window.
When she returned, eight times out of ten, the food would be utterly gone. Eaten, only crumbs would remain and the window would be open.
It was small but it made the woman smile.
Unfortunately, not everyone was as patient as she was. Young Bruce Wayne had quite happily put his foot in his mouth and suggested that the cat stay with him, that it was better than where she slept. The cat doesn't like it when someone becomes self-righteous. Cats have their pride, especially wild cats. The silly rich boy thought pandering would get the cat to come back to him. He failed. She came back to him at the hospital but it was only on her terms. She protected him, she came back to him, but she gave him no slack.
That was where Bruce had made a mistake and Jim and Barbara had learned.
Barbara could be cunning like the cat as well. She knew the cat was no pet. But she also knew that cats needed attention. She'd offer hugs, unconditional love, care, a home. Every time Selina would leave, but hesitate, and that uncertain look would appear in those usually confident eyes every time she glanced at Barbara and Jim.
Oh, the cat knew where she could get a supply of food. It kept the cat coming back, and though she kept leaving, she would continually return as long as there was food...and maybe a home offered. Oh yes…..and perhaps one day the cat would stay of her own free will.
It was only a matter of time…
With cats, life was a game. You had to know exactly what move to make to earn their trust and affections and Jim and Barbara had made all the right cunning moves. With each move along the cat would come back to their loft as she pleased…but at least they had something she wanted…and it wasn't just food.