Old Mama Kitty is gone. I haven’t seen her in six days. She’s always at the back door, right at supper time. There were a couple of times this summer when she was gone for a day or two, but never six. She’s old. I know that. Just this fall, she seemed to be telling me she was tired. She has one leg that trembles sometimes…and not necessarily because of a chill in the air.
Being a farm cat, Mama is tough. She doesn’t take any guff from the younger boy cats. If they get too close to her feeding dish, she has no problem swatting them away…claws and fangs bared. They give her a wide berth on the front porch, arcing around her, well out of kitty reach with sly glances from the corner of their eyes. She has probably been to the vet once in her life and that was when she was spayed. She’s never been sick that I know of. She will act like she wants you to pet her, then she swats you if you linger too long. She’s one tough kitty.
I thought we’d lost her back in 2014 when I first came to the farm. I walked down to the road to get the mail and coming back, there…by the end of the driveway…was a yellow cat that had been hit by a car. I came up to the house to get my work gloves and a shovel. My aunt was still living on the farm at the time. I went to her and told her I was sorry, but Old Mama Kitty was hit by a car and was gone. I went back down and picked up the cat to take it up by the barn to bury it when…I saw the evidence. This was definitely NOT Old Mama Kitty. This was a boy! I wish I would have had the wherewithal to check that out before I told my aunt.
I had only had one cat in my life before coming to the farm. Ginger was yellow with deep gold stripes. I didn’t seem to be allergic to her as a teenager but the older I got, the more indoor cats bothered me. Ginger went to another home when I moved to England after I was married. Mom hadn’t wanted a cat in the first place. She just tolerated her for me.
I’ve always been more of a dog person. Dogs are easy to understand. Feed them. Throw the ball. Scratch the good places. Go for walks. They will worship the ground you walk on. Dogs have owners. Cats have staff. You are extra special if a cat loves you. It means you’ve met the criteria.
The problem with pets is, unless you own a large bird or a turtle, they are going to die before you. And every time a pet dies, they take more of your heart away. I’ve had to put four dogs down in my lifetime. It kills me.
I don’t want to think of Mama Kitty as “gone”. But, this is what happens with farm animals sometimes. They seem to know when it is their time, I think. I feel a little guilty though. I’ve been away a lot the last couple of weeks helping Mr. FixIt clean and paint his house. I was at the farm every day to feed the cats and spend time with them. Then, six days ago, she just wasn’t there. I called and called and called. It’s sad because I really came to love her. She’s been around forever. She was my Uncle Bob’s cat. He died in 2005. It’s like losing a family member. I know there is still a slim chance she could come back, but I really think it’s time to let her go.
Pope John Paul II stated that animals have souls and are important beings in God’s creation. And, since souls can go to heaven, it isn’t a stretch to picture our pets running and jumping on us when we get there. I hope to see all my fur babies when I get there!
I inherited Old Mama Kitty with the farm. She was my accidental love. And…I’ll really miss her. ❤️
“His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”
Matthew 25:23 ESV
Aww! Hugs my friend. It is tough to lose a gentle friend.
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I’ve had so many cats that have disappeared like this. The boy cats usually show back up & the mama cats don’t usually stay gone too long but the old ones sometimes just go away to die. Dogs will do the same thing. Of course there’s the possibility that another critter has attacked her & she’s not able to get back home. I’ve had that to happen to quite a few….some made it back home to die but some didn’t. I’ve sworn that I’ll not have anymore pets but somehow a neighborhood cat with kittens has taken up part time residence here!❤️
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Ginny, is there any chance she has gotten trapped in one of your out buildings or cellar. After finding my cat trapped in the compartment of my motorhome three days after her not coming home and spreading fliers all thru the neighborhood, I have to ask…I do feel your pain because we did lose a 16 yrs old limping cat this past spring to coyotes. She was a great huntress and Tiger Lily wanted to be outside all the time!
Just this evening at supper, Mr. FixIt asked if she could have gone in the cellar house when I was rummaging around in there last week! We made a beeline back to the farm but she wasn’t in there. No other buildings are open. She doesn’t wear a collar that could get hooked on something. We checked up and down the creek bank, up behind and under the barn and shed and in the ditches along the road. No sign at all. She just went away. ?
When we lived in the country there was a feral cat that over time became our outdoor pet. One night he wanted to stay in on the porch, but I wanted to shut the pet door because it was cold and he had outside options (2 outbuildings) he usually stayed out. He seemed afraid, but I didn’t have a litter box or a cat shelter, it was just an outside porch and he had never stayed in on it before, so I figured he would be fine in one of his usual spots, and made him go out and shut the door. I could see nothing to be afraid of. I never saw him after that night, he must have sensed some predator I did not that was lurking somewhere around us. People think living in the country is idyllic but you often end up dealing with death more than in the city. We had a few animals die while we lived there over 17 yrs. An ancient miniature horse, some ducks, chickens, even two goats that I got that had something wrong with them and died so fast I didn’t even have time to call a vet-they were okay, then they were dead hours later when we got up. It’s hard.
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I’m more of a dog person too and You’re right, they take a piece of your heart with you when they’re gone. I think they know when it’s their time to go. My son lives out in the country and had a black lab that lived to the very ripe old age of 22. One day they let him out to do his business and he just disappeared. They searched for days with no luck. We all think he simply went out in the desert to die and spare them the ordeal of witnessing his passing.
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