一猫二主：猫咪“劈腿”惹闹剧

A two-timing puss has prompted a decade-long tug-of-war between Wellington neighbours, with two families laying claim to their beloved pet.

一只“劈腿”的猫咪在惠灵顿的两家人之间引发了数十年之久的拉锯战，两家人都声称这只猫是自家爱宠。

The straying feline, known as Ming to the Alexander family and Cleo to the Smith family, has been playing away for nearly 10 years, living a secret life with each family.

这只两家游荡的猫咪这样生活已经十几年了，亚历山大一家把它唤作“小明”，史密斯一家把它唤作“克利奥”，它对两家人都隐瞒了在另一家的生活。

It all started when Alice Alexander bought a pedigree Siamese cat, which she named Ming, in 2000. He had a habit of mingling and he once took a nap in a removal truck and ended up in the eastern suburbs, before being discovered.

故事是这样开始的，2000年，爱丽丝·亚历山大买了一只纯种暹罗猫，她给它取名为“小明”。它喜欢在外戏耍，曾有一次，它在一辆搬家卡车里睡着了，结果被带到了城市东部的郊区，后来才家人找回。

When the family moved to Strathmore in 2005, the wandering became more frequent, then in 2010 Ming disappeared.

2005年，这家人搬到了史特摩镇，小明外出游荡的次数更多了。2010年，小明失踪了。

Alexander put missing cat posters up around her neighbourhood, but no-one had seen Ming.

亚历山大在邻近社区张贴了寻猫启事，但是没有人见过小明。

In May this year, she was shocked when he "just appeared out of nowhere" after four years.

今年五月份，她惊讶的发现，小明在失踪四年后，“不知从哪里又冒出来了”。

She got Ming microchipped and put on another collar, but the cat disappeared again. A month later, he returned with a shaved leg and had obviously been to the vet.

她带小明去植入了皮下电子芯片，给它带上了新项圈，可是这只猫又失踪了。一个月后，它回来了，一条腿上的毛被剃掉了，而且很明显接受过兽医的治疗。

It transpired Ming was living a double life as Cleo in the Smith family home, which was next door and down the hill.

这一迹象暴露了小明在史密斯一家以克洛伊的身份过着的二重生活，而这另一家人就是亚历山大一家的邻居，在山脚下。

The Smiths had moved to Karori, but when they shifted to Auckland, they took Ming, who had been Cleo for five years, with them. They moved back to their Strathmore home earlier this year.

史密斯一家曾经搬到了卡洛里区，但是他们搬到奥克兰的时候带上了克洛伊，那是克洛伊已经和他们一起生活了五年之久了。今年早些时候，他们搬回了史特摩镇。

Glenda Smith said that until she saw the posters, she had no idea about her cat's "secret life."

格伦达·史密斯说，直到她看到寻猫启事，她才知道了自己的猫过着另一重“秘密生活”。

The cat spent so much time at her house, she assumed it had been a stray so took it in, she said.

格伦达说，当时她看到这只猫长期呆在自己家里，就以为这是一只流浪猫，于是就收养了这只猫。

The fate of Ming/Cleo has yet to be decided but both women say that they just want the cat to be happy.

小明/克洛伊最终的归属尚未决定，但两家的女主人都说，她们只是希望这只猫过得幸福就好。