Because I Loved a Stray Cat

     

Freya came from the Humane Society. Sully was a gift from a friend. (Sully will get a blog someday, but I need to speak to his original Mommy first.) 

      I've told this story so often, I'll make it shorter this time.

     My friend Darci and my husband took a walk to get cigarettes and found a grey and white kitten outside the 7-11. I remember being irritated with her.... She encouraged this cat to follow, but didn't invite him inside, because it wasn't her house. (Or her responsibility, ha!)

     I asked him to come in, because it was the end of April and it managed to rain and snow at the same time and the cat was meowing piteously outside our window. I remember him perching on our fence, looking askance at me like,  "Really? I can come inside?" He was so little. We fed him--he was obviously starving-- and kept him overnight out of the nasty Alberta weather. I was adamant that we didn't need another cat and that kitty was going to the Humane Society when I was sober. 

     That kitten was Spartacus Jones. He completely charmed me and broke my heart the next day, as he crept his way onto the couch for cuddles and showed me all the scars on his tummy. He wrapped his paws around my hand and begged with his eyes. I COULD NOT let him go. 

     Seven years later, Spartacus broke my heart again when he died in my arms. Dan stroked his ears and told him it was a pleasure to be owned by him. We put him down over what was believed to be kidney cancer. We grieved ferociously, and we still grieve, to this day,  the little boy that we adored more than anything. For the record, I'm grateful to Darci for the unexpected gift.  As much as it hurt, I'm so glad we kept him.

     That night we drank ourselves stupid, and cried for hours. We screamed along to The Ramones, The Clash, and The Dead Milkmen. We made an unspoken promise that night. We were so grateful for him, so glad we helped him.... There are so many creatures out there that need food, shelter, any help we can give them...We would ALWAYS help any animal in need. Dog, cat, bird, squirrel, doesn't matter. That's what we do now. 

     I have a secret to tell. I didn't talk about it before, because I wasn't sure what we were doing was correct, or legal. Shortly after Spartacus died, we put whatever cat food that didn't get eaten on any given day out on our patio table, just in case some hungry being needed food. This was long before we met Amir or even Grendel. 

     A large crow with a terrible injury started coming to feed. We named hm Huginn, for 'Thought', because we worried about him. 

     His foot was barely attached to his leg. It just sort of flopped around loosely, and looked painful. We have trees, but this was when we started opening our shed doors a bit. Just in case the trees weren't enough shelter from the wind. It was February and it got colder, so we put out more food. Oats , suet cakes, cat kibble.  He brought his family. The Magpies ate from it too, but Huginn was big enough to hold court and he ate first. His foot eventually just fell off and he hobbled around on a stump. 

     Yes, we did consult a rescue, but...They required us to catch him, and not in any cat carrier. We had to entice him into a cardboard box and shut the lid on this rather large wild bird.  Right...we didn't have that kind of trust with Huginn, and he had a family. We had no interaction with any of them. We only watched them through windows. can you imagine how badly that would have gone? We had no training and didn't want to injure him further. 

     We continued to feed them until they eventually disappeared. They were gone by next autumn. I read that sometimes crows migrate, sometimes they don't if the food source is good. Huginn never came back, and we don't regret feeding him. We just hope he and his family went south for warmth and perhaps a better life that didn't necessarily rely on the mercy of humans. 

     My point is, constant hunger is a horrible way to exist for man or beast. Starvation is a monstrous  death, and we have a tendency to leave food out for whatever creature needs it. Sorry, not sorry. I will feed all when I can.

     But about my current favorite stray... I have been looking for Amir's owners through 'Next Door', another social media site designed to keep in touch with your neighborhoods in case you aren't familiar with it. We still want to adopt him, but I need to post a picture of him and ask around. He's been hanging around more and more, but stray cats don't give themselves haircuts. 

     Know what disturbs me greatly? All the posts about, "Whose cat is this?" Gingers, tabbies, torties, etcetera. Constant posts about stray kitties everywhere and no one knows. At least two of them look a lot like Amir, but they don't have the black spot on his nose. One is in St. Albert. Are these all strays? Or just collarless? It's October. Where are all these cats going to go? 

Dan and I are still going to provide food. We're still leaving our shed ajar with straw laid out. Any animal needs help, we'll provide it in any way we can. In the name of Beloved Spartacus Jones. It will be our love and our pleasure.