KIHEI RENT A CAT – REALLY?
Well, you can’t actually rent a cat anywhere in Kihei, but if you rented a car from Kihei Rent A Car in the past 2o years, you’ve probably noticed a few cats around the business.
Actually, there are 25 cats that live at Kihei Rent A Car right now. That number was around 35 not too long ago. As the years go by, the feral cat colony naturally gets smaller as older cats pass away. Since all of the cats are spay or neutered, they don’t reproduce anymore. The dominant cats in the colony keep out most new feral cats that try and join this very well fed colony at Kihei Rent A Car.
Kihei Rent A Car didn’t intend to have a cat colony. About 20 years ago one cat showed up in the driveway. She was a black cat that immediately called KRAC her home. The owners had a black cat many many years ago that they really loved. So, this new feline family member was given the same name as the first family black cat: Inkie
As time went on, another cat showed up. She was a tiny tabby with a crooked tail. By this time, Inkie had been running off several other cats who wanted to move in. But with this new cat, Inkie was different. Inkie allowed the new cat to stay and even come inside the office during the day! We called this cat Tiger and sometimes Kiki. She mostly goes by Tiger now.
Although Inkie passed away several years ago, Tiger is still will us. She sleeps all day next to the warm copy machine. She is at least 20 years old! Tiger allows one other cat to come in the office once in awhile. Her name is Kika. She is a very vocal cat so when it’s very busy in the office and she feels like cat chatting away, we have to scoot her outside. Mainly, Tiger is the only cat inside the office.
The colony of cats at Kihei Rent A Car are seriously the best fed cats on Maui! Their meals are made of dry kibbles mixed with canned wet food. Every morning, midday, and evening, one of the rental agents mixes up a huge bowl of dry and wet food and scatters small piles around the parking lot for the cats. They all pick a pile and dig in. Then they go sleep some more. Most of the cats are pretty friendly. There are some that scurry off when people get too close.
The Kihei Rent A Car staff have given all of the cats names! Some of the more friendly and “popular” cats are Smoosh, Peaches, Lucy, Callie, Petey, Boots, Ipo, and Lilly (can’t forget Lilly 🙂 A few cats have been adopted from this warm and fuzzy group, but most have called this place home for so long, they would not be happy anywhere else. Living at a car rental business has made them “car aware” too. Only once did a cat take on a rental car. He survived, but with a much shorter tail. Even though they lay under the parked rental cars for their naps, they know to run off when they see someone coming with a key and clipboard in hand.
If you miss your kitties while on vacation on Maui, feel free to stop by and have a chat with Kika, pet Tiger, and watch the colony gobble down their regularly served meals. Take lots of pictures too, they love to pose for the camera!
