Guest Author - Susan Hopf
The scrawny black mat on four legs flew up the tree as the 8-month-old pups gleefully chased after him. That he was an unneutered male was obvious. The willowy young maple barely supported his weight but to the top he went and at the top he stayed. The dogs were called “out” and back to our walk we returned. A quick apology was issued to the scrambling feline as we continued down the lane- “sorry kitty the dogs just don’t know any better.”
The walks that followed during the remainder of that day and into the next included a keen eye kept out for the feral cat. Of course it would be best if the dogs did not learn to repeat such behavior but concern for the cat’s welfare and a chance to help were the main reason for such vigilance. Kitty was nowhere to be seen until the following night when he joined another stray that we regularly fed. It seemed that the cat was not at all bothered by the dogs but was, in fact, drawn by an uncontrollable desire to follow us all home some thirty acres west of the initial event.
Very undernourished, this furry black creature ate with gusto but remained cautious around the resident feral, “Gray Kitty” – this cat we had been feeding for years but was never able to catch – he suffered from a broken pelvis that healed and stinted his gait but he survived many years until hit by a car with fatal results – a sad day but at least a quick end to an extremely hard life and we felt somewhat grateful that we knew how he had met his end.
But long before that we continued to contend with the newly arrived black stray. With little reservation the aged and wise gray cat allowed the newcomer to share his meal and they both stayed throughout the evening. We had long ago stopped trying to approach the gray cat. The black cat, as expected, retreated from any approach by humans.
The following morning, as was usual, the Gray Kitty was off attending to important cat errands. The black remained and accepted breakfast. The dogs, held at sit/stay on the leash whined softly as the cat polished off his second easy meal. He disappeared for a few hours but returned and waited for his second dinner – the Gray Kitty joined him and such was the pattern for another day.
Within three days this curious black cat had stopped running from us, the dogs and wound up with a nice comfy bed in the first floor powder room. His skeletal frame was covered in thick black mats. The two-year-old feline had an upper respiratory infection and fleas and needed to be neutered. All were attended to with the help of a local rescue “Four-Legged Friends” with the intention of finding him a permanent home – of course he had already done so – us humans were just not yet aware of this.
Mattie became his name – he was the responsibility of Lily – one of the black lab pups that originally treed him – and she saw to it that he was properly groomed. Allowing the dog to preen him and pull out the mats he quickly became a handsome little fur ball that endeared himself to all but my resident house cat Mr. Switters. Application of gates and guards were placed on the stairways and the cats adapted to their individual levels of the house. All were content, well fed and happy - Mattie, the cat that thought he was a dog, often came for walks with the Labs. He warmed our laps and our hearts but only for a little less than two years.
Getting ready for bed Mattie was found prone upon the floor unable to stand with no sensation to his hind end. There was no evidence of trauma and no pain, which ruled out a fairly common diagnosis of a clot around his spine. He was his happy, normal self one minute and then this. There had been no indication of anything wrong prior. He always did have a funny gait and eyes of slightly different sizes so the best guess was a tumor or abnormality in his spine that for some reason chose that time to give way. Either way the prognosis was not good so a peaceful and painless end of life for a sweet little stray was decided upon.
We have been missing his loud purr and the soft trill with which he always greeted us for only a few days now. We know we gave him a far better life, even though it was far too short, than nature had intended and in that we take comfort. Smiles will soon replace the tears and we will remember fondly the scrawny little cat that followed the dogs home that fateful and wonderful day.
