Lieseli, the twenty-year-old cat who we ran into in Kandersteg last year, is enjoying her life. Since we’ve been back here, she’s been visiting us regularly in our apartment. At night she sleeps with Reto, our neighbor, who took the cat in many years ago after the owner moved out. She didn’t want to follow her former owner and kept going back to her previous place of residence, where Reto is now at home. He began to feed the cat as it kept returning to him. And he still does that today – alternately with us.

We agreed with Reto on the following division of labor: In the morning we feed the cat and give it the medication it needs. Lieseli quickly understood this and is already standing in front of the balcony door at 6.30 a.m. She meows so loudly that I can hear it in the bedroom too. If I let her in then Brigitta has already prepared her breakfast. She no longer gulps it down like she used to, but instead eats it in several small portions. Then she asks for cuddles. She lies down on our sofa and looks at me challengingly: «¥ou know what I like – so go ahead.»