The tiny tortie who appeared at our 6am circuit, sat down exactly where the bowl goes, and refused to move until breakfast was served.
She is maybe twelve weeks old. The vet would call her a kitten. The dog at the next stop on our route would call her a force of nature.
We call her Pancake — short, round, and warm.
We noticed her the first time about two weeks ago, watching from behind a pile of construction rubble at the third stop on our Liloan circuit. The next morning she was closer. The morning after that she was sitting on the curb. By the end of the week she had figured out which spot in the gutter we use for the food bowls and had stationed herself there before our truck pulled up.
This is unusual. Most strays we encounter take weeks of consistent visits to even approach the eating area, and even then they wait until we've stepped back. Pancake decided, on her own, that we were her people, and that 6am was breakfast.
Now she gets her own small portion of wet food before the bigger dogs get their share. She eats without hurry, looks up, blinks at us, and then disappears back into the rubble — a perfect demonstration of feline trust ritual.
If you're reading this and you live in or near Cebu and you've been thinking about adopting a kitten — meet Pancake. She found us first. Now she just needs a home.