Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in foster cat's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Friday, May 11th, 2007
10:22 pm	Here's a picture of Blackie, the stray who we feed at our back porch. We trapped him and got him fixed, he stays outdoors due to lack of space in our apartment and out of concern for our other two cats. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007
5:01 pm	Hendrix I have a new cat in my storage room. He's a nearly solid black longhair with a bit of white on his chest. Kinda small, probably young, very pretty. I caught him in my neighbor's yard and took him to get neutered this morning, paid for with a coupon from a local organization. Apparently he got carsick on the way to the vet, but I had newspaper on the seat under him so no harm done. The spay/neuter coupon was graciously accepted - I only had to pay for rabies vaccine and one dose of flea drops. Pretty good deal, I'd say! I'll keep a watchful eye on him; he's already not doing as well as Blackie did. Aside from the heave-ho in my car, he's much more obviously sore and limping. But if he heals well, I can let him out in as little as 2 or 3 days. The weather is much nicer this time around, too. That helps. I doubt I'll be able to get Hendrix back into the trap so I can return him to his home at my neighbor's house. So I may just release him into my own yard. The 'neighbor' is not exactly a next-door neighbor, and it would be a decent trek for a cat to return there on his own. So, Blackie might end up with a new friend! 'Cause, you know, it's my fault Blackie lost his old friend. I was responsible for Fluffy's escape at the animal shelter. Blackie's been going it alone ever since then, but I don't see him as much anymore. I think he felt some sort of obligation to take care of Fluffy and make sure he got fed every day. Nowadays, he won't even stop by for food for 2 or 3 days in a row sometimes. Of course, it's possible that someone else has been feeding him. If that's the case, this area should be able to support Hendrix too. Good! I can finally get him away from that stupid woman who leaves out bowls of milk. (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 16th, 2006
2:47 pm	Fluffy disappeared I haven't seen Fluffy in a week. I'm really worried about him. Particularly now that I've spent a good chunk of the day hanging out with Blackie. Blackie has to be the single unfriendliest cat I've ever met - he hisses at me every time he sees me with his food - but today he's been lurking in the yard all day. After I got back from my jog, I took his food outside and then sat on the back stoop. (I put his food under the other tenants' stoop, which is around the corner from mine.) He ate, and then he came around the corner of the house to 'join' me. 'Join' in this case meaning '15 feet away and within easy dashing distance of the woods'. I tried to lure him closer with treats, but he wasn't interested. He just sat there and sat there. And so did I. I had visions of winning Blackie's trust so he could lead me to Fluffy, and if Fluffy were still alive, maybe I could get him to a vet and save his life. Heh. Not gonna happen. If something happened to Fluffy, no miracle of mine can save him now. I don't even know where the cats go when they're not here. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, December 11th, 2006
7:41 pm	No luck with Blackie Blackjack's owner came by today. I gave her the dish of food and let her go out alone. She got a very good look at Blackie, but ultimately she decided it wasn't the same cat. I'm very sad. I was really, really hoping that Blackie's owner would come and whisk him away, and perhaps adopt Fluffy too. I also feel bad for poor Blackjack and for his family, especially the seven-year-old daughter who still obsesses over him. So, Plan B. What was Plan B? Actually it's back to Plan A: catch the cats and let the animal shelter deal with them. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
10:35 am	Home for strays? Blackie has gotten big since I started feeding him and his best buddy, Fluffy. Now I wonder whether Blackie is Blackjack. Blackjack is a cat owned by a local family who was reported missing in October. I've been keeping in touch with his owner, but she and I determined that Blackie couldn't be her cat. for one thing, Blackjack was big and Blackie was a tiny thing when he first showed up. Second, Blackie has wilderness smarts - some, at least - and seemed quite feral. He still has a bad attitude. He growls and hisses at me when I bring the food out. But he's bolder now. Blackie comes right up to me to do his angry hissing thing. Fluffy stays back and lets Blackie be the aggressive one. I called Blackjack's owner this morning and asked her if she wanted to come by this afternoon and see if she could catch a glimpse of Blackie. She was all for it. I think I'll prepare the food dish and then let her set it out by herself. That way, it will be nice and quiet and Blackie won't get as freaked out. She may have a chance to let him recognize her by doing whatever she tends to do around Blackjack. I told her about Fluffy. She expressed some interest in keeping them both for a while until Fluffy's owners are found. But I've already been asking around and he doesn't match any of the lost cats listed by the Humane Society or Animal Control. I'll call them both again. But that's jumping ahead of things! First we must figure out if Blackie is Blackjack. Second, if he is, we must somehow capture Blackjack and get him home. Then we need to go after Fluffy. The Humane Society loans out their Have-A-Heart trap, but its availability is spotty. They said to keep calling and eventually they'll have it for me. Ack. Can we have MORE uncertainty, please? So, yeah. I have to go to work, and then I should pick up the house a bit, and then we shall have fun with cats. (Comment on this)
Saturday, November 18th, 2006
12:58 pm	Hooray for home vet visits Trixie was very good. Or rather, she wasn't the nightmarish terror she tends to be at the vet's office. She will be getting a dropperful of Vitamin B per day; and two more doses of the yellow stuff, once a week, so that's one dose next Saturday and one dose the following Saturday. I forget what the yellow stuff is now. Hopefully I'll remember later. Oh yes! Also, in four days (Wednesday or later) I may apply a dose of Frontline to her fur for fleas and ticks. Melody has already received Frontline. She weighs 5 lbs - Trixie does, that is. That's a significant loss; she used to weigh 8 lbs. But you'd believe it if you saw her. Or if she sat on you. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 17th, 2006
3:40 pm	We found Trixie! As of a week ago we were pretty much losing hope of ever seeing Trixie again. She'd been gone for over a month. hai_kah_uhk was still making some efforts to search, but she was focusing more on feeding other strays we had discovered. Early this week we got news of a possible sighting way across town, and we made new posters and made a couple trips to search that area without any luck. The person had only gotten a brief glimpse, so we figured it was probably a false alarm. Yesterday, hai_kah_uhk got a call from a shelter, relaying a message that a woman about half a mile up our street had been feeding a stray that matched Trixie's description. She went over there immediately and spotted Trixie hiding under the porch of the thrift shop there (it was the thrift shop owner who had called the shelter). She got Trixie to eat, but couldn't coax her out. She came home and told me the news and called the shelter, who had offered to let her borrow a Have-A-Heart trap. Meanwhile I had been planning to do errands and then do a couple hours work at the school, so I said I'd stop by the thrift shop and take another shot at luring Trixie out. I brought some food, but wasn't expecting much in the way of results because hai_kah_uhk is usually the better one at getting Trixie to come to her. I got there and spent about 15 minutes calling to Trixie without any results. Not a sign of her. There was food and water out on the step of the shop, and since I hadn't talked to the owner I didn't want her annoyed about me leaving another dish on her step so I threw out the food in the dumpster. I was got in my car, started the engine, turned on the radio and was about to drive off when I spotted her over by the steps. She was being extremely skittish and it took about 10 minutes before I was able to get her to come close enough to accept some petting, and when I made a sudden movement she fled, but stayed just within sight. I got a blanket from the car and coaxed her onto the blanket and managed to pet her some more. Now at this point, the car was maybe 15 yards away and I was trying to decide my chances of grabbing her in the blanket and getting her to the car. The only time I ever tried catching her in a blanket in the past was a bit of a disaster, so I didn't have much confidence in my ability to pull it off. To make matters worse I had forgotten to bring my cell phone so I couldn't call hai_kah_uhk for backup. So she was on the blanket, across the parking lot from the car. I started dragging the blanket closer to the car inches at a time with her one it. This wasn't getting me very far, but I came up with a better plan using my jacket as a second blanket. This way I could lure her close to me for petting, then pick up the other blanket, move a little way off, and sit down again and call her over. A couple of times she got up and walked off, but she never went completely out of sight and she came back each time. This entire process took about an hour. When I got close to the car I tried sitting in it an luring her in. No luck. It was gonna have to be the hard way. So finally I was petting her on the jacket close to the open car door. I grabbed her by the scruff, and, in a maneuver comparable to throwing a lateral in football, chucked cat and jacket into the car. ...Where my waiting accomplices subdued and bound her. Okay, actually no. Just kidding about that last bit. That might have made things easier, but I ended up just driving home with her loose in the car. hai_kah_uhk got in the car and handled the transition from car to house which involved more grabbing and blanket-wrapping once she had settled onto hai_kah_uhk 's lap. She's adapting well, eating, sleeping peacefully, and even spending some time on our laps. Melody got hissy at first but settled down after a few hours. She is badly emaciated and has fleas. We'll be arrranging a checkup with the vet in the next few days. Also getting a thank-you give for the thrift store owner who was feeding her. She probably would have starved without that. -Rick (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 13th, 2006
8:35 pm	Sticking together The two cats I saw yesterday seem to have decided that this is the place to be. I've dubbed them Blackie and Fluffy - not the most original names, but if they stick around much longer, maybe shaharazad and I will give them better names. I got up before sunrise to search for Trixie near the beach. But it was a windy, nasty day and once again I didn't see her. I came home with the tray of cat food still untouched. And there, lurking near my back door, were Blackie and Fluffy. So I went around to the cat-feeding stoop, set the cat food down, and entered the house by the front door. Melody and I watched the cats out the back door. They'd retreated into the woods while I was putting the cat food out, but Blackie soon appeared again. She took a few steps forward, paused and looked over her shoulder, meowed, and then continued. A minute later Fluffy came limping behind her. Outdoor life doesn't seem to be treating Fluffy well. He's starting to look pretty bad. His fur is still pretty, but he looks injured and/or exhausted. However, Blackie seems to be a loyal friend. I haven't been feeding them in the mornings - my routine usually consists of one bowl at 3:45 PM. I sometimes supplement that with a tray of food meant for Trixie after I go out looking for her. Not always. Sometimes I don't have the energy to look for her. This afternoon I went outside with their scheduled bowl of food, and I saw them sleeping together in the woods. They were curled up tightly, yin and yang. Fluffy is definitely yin. Poor guy. I called Animal Control this morning. The woman checked her database and couldn't find any listings that matched Fluffy's description. However, she found a listing for a lost black cat. She gave me the number of the owner. I called the owner and talked with her about her cat. We determined that her black cat was not Blackie - Blackie is small and cautious, and if she's ever been somebody's pet, she's wild now. However, Gloria and another one of my customers at the cafe claimed seeing a large, somewhat friendly black cat near Gloria's house. He's probably eating the food she leaves out. I pointed the owner of the lost cat in the direction of Gloria's house. "I'll go there right away," she said. "And I'll keep my eyes out for Trixie too." Gloria has recruited me to refill her cat food bowl again this winter. She left for her other home in the Midwest yesterday, so now I'll schedule a daily visit to her yard to keep the ferals fed. I hope Trixie finds either her set-up or mine. Now I'll be spending ample time at both. Note to everyone: if you find a stray pet, notify Animal Control and/or your local shelter! Don't only do it if you've lost a pet! Animal lost&found services only work if the finder contributes information as well as the original owner. And don't be afraid of shelters. Sure, they're overcrowded, underfunded, and forced to euthanize unwanted animals occasionally. But they have resources you may not. They're staffed by animal lovers. There are horror stories, but success stories outnumber those. And if you really want to improve conditions, donate or volunteer. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 12th, 2006
4:35 pm	I am starting my own feral colony One of the things I do in my search for Trixie is leave food under the back stoop. After a slow start, it's been disappearing every day, but as far as I can tell it's never Trixie who eats it. First it was a grey tiger. A very small cat, probably young, very timid. Then last week we and the neighbors started seeing a little black cat. She's beautiful but scrawny and seems quite feral. I'm sure she's been outside a long time. Today the black one was hovering in the woods near the stoop, waiting for the food to appear. In her impatience she began to approach me too soon, before I put the bowl down, and startled herself with the realization of what she was doing. I returned into the house as quickly as I could to let her eat in peace. I went outside again a while later, figuring Blackie was gone. But there she was, staring at me again through the trees, and the bowl was licked spotless. When I headed back for the door she followed at a distance. So, okay, she's still hungry. I put a little more food in the bowl and brought it out again, but as soon as I reached the stoop, I saw there were two cats. The second is white and brown, longhaired and very pretty. He's in beautiful condition. He must be somebody's pet. Tomorrow I will call Animal Control and see if anyone reported a cat like him missing, and then on Tuesday I'll drop by the shelter and check with them too. If this cat has an owner searching for him like I'm searching for Trixie, I should locate them pretty easily. He might be a Norwegian Forest Cat. He resembles Marci's boys. Still no Trixie, though. I'll keep looking. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 8th, 2006
8:57 pm	Possible kittens I am currently playing phone/email tag with the local humane society shelter. However, rumor has it that there are still kittens, and they want to give us some to foster. Most likely with the mother. I have so much to update on this journal. Trixie is gone - she escaped when construction workers propped our back door open and she never returned. It's a difficult loss but at this time I doubt she's still alive. I've nearly given up my search efforts. Well, technically I have given up, but I managed to find two stray or feral cats in the neighborhood and I've been feeding them in hopes that Trixie will hook up with them if she's still out there. Feral cats don't do well on Cape Cod - the coyotes get them. But these two seem to survive. Better news is that we have a cat named Melody with cerebellar hypoplasia who is doing very well. We got her as a kitten, adopted her straight out. She's lonely without Trixie. This is why I'm fostering again so soon. She's a social kitty. I hope it goes well for her. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 16th, 2005
4:07 pm	Worms, Roxanne! It's been far too long since I updated. A lot has happened since then, including a new chapter of the Happy drama that I just found out, just now. G has given up on catching Happy. It just wasn't happening. I offered to help, but to be honest, there wasn't much I could've added to the endeavor. With Subordinate and me moving out of town in July, our opportunities are limited. If we don't receive Happy now, there's no way we'd have time to train her before we leave. So G is stuck with her. However, kitten season is almost here, and we still have the cage set up in the living room. The other volunteers are thrilled with the idea that we'll be able to foster some kittens. Fran plans to move even before we do. She's the one who does most of the outreach, finding prospective adopters and matching them with cats, and she also fosters some of the kittens now that the shelter no longer exists. I don't know how things will be once she leaves. She says she'll still be able to arrange adoptions over the internet, but the rest of us will have to get our acts together and take on more of the work ourselves. I'm dreading this. I'm no good at 'selling' kittens to people or discerning who needs what. I don't know how to weed out the idiots. My idea of problem-solving is to give them my number so they can contact me with any problems, and this only works if they bother to contact me. Irresponsible people are beyond my understanding. Oh, and also, I don't really know anyone in this area. The newest chapter of the story: Spike and Xander have parasites of some sort. By extention, this means Happy probably does, too. The three of them share a small space in G's basement. G is having trouble treating the twins; she can't get Xander to eat the food with the pill in it. Spike does a little better, but he always was a glutton. Getting Happy treated will be even harder. G's overwhelmed. And who could blame her? So she'll most likely want to pass on fostering kittens this spring. Her garage is a nice place to keep them in, but unless things magically get better for her, the extra work will be too much. Lu doesn't have the facilities to keep a lot of kittens. There are a couple other volunteers, but I haven't heard news of any of them being able to help more, either. I'd say CATS is in a bit of trouble. Maybe there will be fewer kittens this year. This past fall, the Newark animal folks raided the feral colonies that Lu takes care of and took away a number of cats from there. Most of the kittens come from those colonies. Problem is, the longtime colony cats have all been spayed or neutered. It's the new ones, the unwanted house pets that people drop off, who have kittens. So maybe I'm prematurely optimistic. I don't know. All I know is that I have this cage that can hold a whole litter of small kittens, or 2-3 medium-sized ones. Or one kitten 4 months or older. An adult would find it a tight squeeze. I'll have to reject any nursing mothers. Bummer. (Comment on this)
Monday, January 31st, 2005
1:24 pm	And again... No Happy today. The woman who has Happy now failed once again to keep her in the box. Happy was in the box! She just didn't stay in the box. We continue to wait. Trixie doesn't mind one bit. Every day Happy doesn't stay in the box is one more day that Trixie gets to be The Only Cat. Oh, if only she knew how much she should value this time. *smile* Alpha (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, January 28th, 2005
8:20 pm	Can't get Happy Poor G! She's been chasing that cat around all week. I shared stormcat's pillowcase suggestion with her and she thought she could pull it off. No such luck. I don't know any details; just that I keep getting emails and phone calls informing me that Happy is not in the box yet. I feel rather helpless. If I had much faith in my ability to catch cats efficiently, I might waltz on over there and do it myself. But I found out with Trixie that my own best-laid plans have a way of getting sabotaged. Guess we'll just have to keep being patient. But I feel bad for the both of them. This dragged-out confrontation can't be easy. Alpha (Comment on this)
Wednesday, January 26th, 2005
10:38 am	Still working on it We don't have Happy yet, in case anyone was wondering. Unforeseen circumstances keep occurring. Nothing really dire. We're taking it slow anyway. No rush. It's more important to get Happy here with minimal stress than to get her here quick. I'm looking forward to the end of the waiting, but hey, that just gives mesomething to look forward to. The cage is done up really nice. It would be better for a smaller cat; I think Happy will be a tight fit in the milk crate shelf. Yes, I'm already thinking of kittens. We'll see, though. One thing at a time. Alpha (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 20th, 2005
6:00 pm	Ready to get Happy Preparations are progressing. I brought the cage home today and set it up. It's just a bit smaller than I'd hoped, but it fits in the space well. I put it on top of two plastic tubs with a board as a kind of a tabletop, because the tubs don't have covers. It's nice and raised. There's a crevice between the tubs that's just big enough for Trixie to enter if she wants to. She hasn't yet. She's been avoiding the cage entirely. Trixie's old litter box is just an inch or two too big. Well, it fits inside the cage. But if it were one inch narrower, it wouldn't take up so much of the room Happy could use for other things. Like sleeping. I attached a milk crate to the top back corner of the cage. It overlaps the litter box area by an inch (which is why I wish the litter box were narrower) but otherwise it's pretty nifty. It'll allow Happy to look out the window. I'll line it with newspapers and one of the granny square mini-blankets to make it more comfortable. Maybe she'll like it. Only problem is, she can only get into it via the litter box. I have small ceramic dishes for food and water. I have piles of toys. The cage is right near the heat, within view of the hallway, the bathroom, and the bedroom door so she'll be able to see all goings-on. And it's close to both the couch and my computer - but not too close - so she'll be able to see me throughout the day without me getting in her face all the time. I don't have a scratching post yet. I have no idea whether Trixie will share hers. The scratching post is pretty firmly hers right now. G said she'd give me some pine litter, which is less messy than scoopable litter. When Happy is ready to roam freely, I'll begin giving her scoopable litter. You know, she's only going to be in the cage for a short time. I feel overprepared. No, one can never be overprepared. Not with cats. G and I are both being very squeamish about trying to get Happy into the carrier. I feel like I shouldn't simply take charge (not that I have much experience anyway), and it's just as well because I needed the extra time to get prepared. G's squeamish because she has a big heart and chasing a partly-feral cat requires a certain degree of cruelty. We'll have to trick her. And we'll probably have to try it more than once before we get it right. Alpha (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, January 16th, 2005
9:12 am	Getting ready I've updated the profile page in anticipation of Happy. It includes a brief summary of her life story so far, as I've heard it from the CATS volunteers. I dropped by G's house and saw Happy in person for the first time yesterday. She's one of the unhappiest cats I've ever seen! And no wonder. Just in the past year, she's been through terrible trauma. She's been seriously injured, and she's been moved around a lot. Cats hate being moved around. And now she has to move again. I feel bad for doing this to her, but G already has so many cats, and Happy will be safe and well cared for here as well. Today I'll do a few things around the house to prepare for Happy's arrival. Cleaning, of course, but I would do that anyway. I also need to get Trixie's old litter box out of storage. I need to clear the spot where Happy's cage will go and put something there to put the cage on. I'm thinking of the large plastic tubs - they're strong enough. The plan is to keep Happy in the cage until I decide she and Trixie are used to each other. The less time that takes, the better. I have no specific predictions, though. I'll just keep a watchful eye on them and make my decision when I make it. Happy is recovered enough to move around now. I was a little unclear on that before, but the information I'd had was old. So she can walk. That's good. (Comment on this)
Thursday, January 13th, 2005
8:03 am	Here we go again! I'm glad I kept this journal. It's coming back from retirement. We're fostering again! This kitty is from CATS, the same organization that gave us Trixie. She's an adult female named Happy who recently suffered serious injuries to her paws. I don't know the nature of the injuries aside from that. She'll be staying in a cage in the living room, so she and Trixie will be able to see but not touch each other. This is good. Not that Happy is in any condition to attack Trixie, but being attacked is Trixie's primary fear. Trixie is going to have to get used to the presence of other animals. She's going to see many come and go if she continues to live with us. I know she wants to be the one cat in a one-cat household, but she's out of luck. My own biggest worry is that she'll start peeing in the living room again, but I'll do what I can to prevent that. Happy won't become a permanent member of the family. We're hoping to move this summer and that'll be difficult enough with the one cat and the closets full of collectables. So she has a six-month time limit. Let's all hope and pray that's enough. Happy will be hard to adopt at her age, and that's before you consider her injuries and her background as a feral cat. But, hey, spending a few months in the center of action in this apartment might help turn her into a house cat! I'll do my best. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 2nd, 2004
8:57 am	In closing I've decided to close this journal. We've had Trixie for over a year now and she's no longer a foster cat - she's a permanent part of the family. She's come a long way, but by now she's settled in and does pretty much the same things. There just aren't many milestones to write about. We've both been working with other cats. Two of the CATS ladies have been keeping kittens in their garages, and one is within easy walking distance from here. However, kitten season is over for now, and I'm not sure what the future holds in regards to our involvement. There's a fundraiser coming up and I plan to donate some granny-square cat blankets for sale at that. And then... can't say. It may simply be waning enthusiasm. My enthusiasm wanes every now and then. It may return. But for now I have other projects to turn my attention to. I'm supposedly making a comic book. I should finish that, or else there won't be one. We shall both continue having a presence here on LiveJournal with our own personal journals. Alpha's is hai_kah_uhk and Beloved Subordinate's is shaharazad. We'll occasionally mention Trixie in those journals, although we each primarily write about us. foster_cat was fun while it lasted. We enjoyed journaling our adventures with this sweet but troubled kitty and how we taught her to be a pet again. This journal is going to stay up a while longer; I'll delete it sometime or other but there's no hurry. I just wanted to thank everyone who read it for your support, advice, and comments. You've all touched us with your humor and compassion and interest in the goings-on of our little family. We hope we've touched some of you the same way. Good luck and lots of love to everyone, feline and human. Current Mood: content (Comment on this)
Monday, August 2nd, 2004
2:47 pm	Shadow pics ( As promised, photos of my childhood friend. ) Current Mood: nostalgic (5 Comments |Comment on this)
12:20 pm	A Death in the Family Shadow is gone. Her health has been deteriorating for a couple of years now. She's had infections in her mouth for a year and a half... she's nearly stone deaf, losing her eyesight and sense of smell. Her arthritis was getting pretty bad and that once-beautiful, luxurious grey coat has been nothing but trouble for a while now. When I visited in January I spent many hours working at the knots and clumps so I could trim them off. Shadow is a hardened old hag in the best possible sense. She ruled our household, intolerant of the presence of any other cats and not particularly welcoming to human visitors, either. She's a barn cat at heart, enjoying the comforts of our home but always driven to work. The work ethic that cat had was amazing. In just about any weather she'd be out doing the rounds - only a deluge, hurricane, or snow over a foot deep could give her pause. We used to chuckle about how she didn't know enough to come in out of the rain. But fear of rain is a value of pampered, weak people, and Shad was a working stiff. She was good at it, too. In her prime, her territory was enormous. It dwindled as she aged, with other neighborhood cats claiming sections of it. A few years ago, a significant portion was wiped out by a housing development. I remember how she used to perch on the edge of the deck, watching the construction crews raze her beloved woods, with an almost melancholy expression. Shad isn't very expressive - she has a permanent mildly annoyed look, common for the flat-faced breeds like Maine Coons. If you want to know her mood, you mostly have to watch her body language. She was my best friend during the very hardest stretches of my life. There were times when I didn't have a human soul I could trust - I was expected to love and respect them, but even that was just for show. If I did have social phobias at that time, they were forced upon me by long series of betrayals. Shad was a rare exception to that. I could trust her; I could figure her out. We'd take long walks in the woods together, hang out in the back yard, and share a bed at night (in the morning, actually - she spent nights outside or downstairs, and then my father would feed her and let her into my room). She curled up on my lap while I watched TV and we'd keep each other warm. I could talk to her, but I usually didn't. People put me under too much pressure to fill up silence with conversation, and having one friend who didn't expect me to do that was too precious. Plus, although I wasn't above talking to animals, I didn't want anyone to catch me at it. In 21 years Shad accomplished a lot of memorable feats (mostly involving small dead animals) and accumulated a lot of stories. She's had a few dramatic brushes with death; the Nine Lives myth lived in her. Watching her die slowly these past few years has been difficult. But she's demonstrated her resilience more than ever. She caught a mouse and a chipmunk this spring, despite being blind, deaf, nearly immobile, and having very little sense of smell. She's tolerated a great deal of pain in order to keep up her ever-shrinking territory. And she recently took up challenging cars. It's funny, but when I try to figure out why she started doing it, I find it disturbing. Shad has had a healthy respect for moving vehicles all her life, although she does have the bad habit of greeting us in the middle of the driveway while we're trying to park in it. (If anyone ever thought it was funny that my parents park along the side of the driveway, that's as good an excuse as any.) However, as my mother informed me, Shad recently started walking into the middle of the road and blocking the oncoming cars. When a car tries to skirt around her, she'll get up and block it again. Two neighbors complained. She made the mail lady late at least once. It was only a matter of time before she challenged a car at night and lost. She never lost, though. She could barely move, couldn't take care of herself, couldn't eat for days at a time, took forever hobbling up and down the stairs, and showed many additional signs of senility. "That cat is going to live forever" we used to joke, and she might have had another year in her, or at least another few months, although she needed much more care than my parents could give her. I can't help wondering if maybe she wanted to lose a car challenge. Part of me wishes she'd wandered off to die the natural way, hidden under a bush where we'd never find her, her matted grey coat looking like so many dead leaves. But there were so many other possibilities to preclude that. She died at the vet, in my father's arms, and it took five peaceful minutes. My parents buried her in a specially made wooden coffin under that boulder by the blackberry patch - a place of honor, in our minds. My mother said they'd put an inscription directly onto the rock sometime in the next few weeks. I have a few photographs of her... I'll scan one in later, preferably an older one so you can all see what a beautiful cat she used to be. She was in my sister's wedding pictures, but she was already scraggly and scrawny by then. I have one of her sitting high on the deck, looking magnificent. Maybe I'll scan that one and the one in which she's all puffed out for winter weather. 21. Not too shabby for a barn cat, huh? (4 Comments |Comment on this)