Date 6/6/13

 

ODE TO BERT

 

As you've heard me mention in other Blogs, cats have a way of finding our house. We had one stray that came to eat. He brought two more dinner companions. Before we knew it, six cats were coming to the Golden Corral at the Hamill House.

They would show up around 5-6 PM, usually two or three together. The others would come in from other directions in the neighborhood. One set was a brother and sister, we later learned. My husband set everyone up with their own personal bowls. They provided a double space, so we could also include cat milk.

I felt this might be their only meal of the day, so I lavished food, milk and usually cat treats at the end. They virtually had the entree, drink and dessert, they probably only dreamed about in the past. Every night they ate as if they were starving.

We soon began hearing from some of our neighbors, the history of the two black short hairs, black Maine Coon, Mackerel, Tabby and yellow cat. The two short hairs, we learned, used to be indoor cats, and came from the house two blocks over. Their owner kicked both declawed cats out of the house due to not using the litter box by one of them. After having the safety of their home for years, they had been forced to fend for themselves outside, never to be allowed inside again. Being declawed had them at a real disadvantage.

The Maine Coon used to have a home of sorts. We were told he only got to go inside the home on occasion. When they transferred out of state, they just left him behind. The yellow cat, no one had a clue about.

The first cat that came to our house originally, had been a stray in the neighborhood for years. He basically lived on the generosity of those who chose not to ignore him. He is the one responsible for letting the others know about the "cat-friendly" environment at our house. Unfortunately, Bert, as we called him, never made it into our house.

We had been feeding the crew, but noticed Bert had been missing for days, which was totally unlike him. I asked one of the neighborhood kids if he had seen him lately. His response saddened and sickened me. We learned Bert was attacked and killed by a Pit Bull, that jumped a fence, in pursuit of him. He died at the scene. We learned that a neighbor had buried him. We missed seeing him at meal time, and wondered if the others missed him as well. After all, he was the one really responsible for them finding us.

Bert was gone, but will never be forgotten. The remaining five - one by one, traded in their lives of uncertainty, for lives of knowing they would be loved and cared for by us.

Copyright 2017 Angels for Animals

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