It’s a coincidence and a tragic one, but a Forum post last week from a strata resident whose committee was going to charge her $100 every time she took in a new cat to foster, replacing one that had found a new home, coincided with us losing the kitten we’d got from a cat-fostering neighbour.

The black and white dynamo arrived with the name Trotsky – because of a little goatee shaped mark on his chin.

In his nine all-too-short months, he proved himself to be a champion fly catcher and handy goalkeeper. No table-tennis ball ever got past him, and he’d bat them back with a look of contempt: ‘You really will have to do better.’

He really did trot and he was the most loving cat I have ever known. But he suffered every ailment going and it eventually became clear that his days of playful affection were going to be interrupted by periods of inexplicable and debilitating illness.

We’d call the vet in and a jab here and an antibiotic there and he’d bounce back as he pursued his noble quest to rid our parish of every flying insect that came within range of his AFL worthy leaps.

However, last week lymphoma finally got him, his kidneys couldn’t cope and we had to let him go. As he fell asleep in my arms for the last time, I sobbed so much that there were moments I couldn’t breathe.

We’ll get another kitten soon. There will never be another Trotsky but there are too many cats out there than need loving homes. Some, I suspect, have been abandoned by owners who don’t have the money to pay dubious, iniquitous and totally arbitrary “fees” for registering them with their strata committees.

All you have to do is tell your committee that you’ve got a cat – or ask for permission that they can’t reasonably refuse – so what’s the fee for? There is no cost involved. How much do you charge owners who want to renovate their kitchens?

Are they trying to deter pet owners because the law now says you can’t ban animals without good reason?

Cats are perfect pets for apartments and apartments are perfect places for cats.  They don’t bark every time someone goes past the door, they don’t need to be taken for walks, they don’t scare people in lifts and they don’t kill local wildlife (because they would if they were left to run free). Only flies are at risk.

So the committee that charges $100 to “register” pets need to pull their heads it.  It’s short-sighted, antisocial and probably illegal, and if our Flatchatter wants to challenge them at NCAT I will stand with her.  Trotsky would have expected no less.

By the way, I know there are people out there who simply can’t tolerate cats. That’s fine – but don’t deny the cats and their carers the opportunity for love and companionship.

A version of this appeared in last week’s Flat Chat Newsletter.