Van Gogh, Part 2, Living a Feral Life

Got some news, and am doing OK


Update
As it turns out, Van Gogh had to be renamed Vanna Gogh.  Yes, we finally peeked.  However, the other day, Hubby spoke to the  owner of the farm up the street and discovered that our stray feline belongs to them and her real name is Pop-Pop's cat.  She is about 20 years old and has lived as a barn cat.  She means quite a bit to them as Pop-Pop passed away three years ago at Christmas time.  They said she had been missing for days and they thought the worst. Little did they know that she has been traveling back and forth between their house and ours for the past six months.  However, I could go out any time of the day and she would come running over to me, so I guess she just kind of settled down where the food was more gourmet.  She had only eaten dry food before and here we were giving her Friskies and treats.  We also sat and played with her which might have gone missing since the demise of her owner. 

Hubby also asked about the other cats that have been coming around in the last month or so.  Yes, they all belong to the farmer and must have smelled the tuna fish on Vanna's breath.   They were all once feral cats that wondered onto their farm.  About 8 years ago, animal control came by and and spayed and neutered them all.  By that time they had over 20 of these felines that kept producing more and more kittens.  These types of cats do not live long as they succumb to many elements, but were mostly done in by the  cars speeding along the winding, narrow roads of our area.  Vanna though, I mean Pop-Pop's Cat, beat all odds and is a fat happy old girl, way past her prime.  She looks pretty good for being around 97 (according to the cat-years calculator). 

I think how I was almost ready to try to catch her, put her in a carrier and take her to a vet to be checked over and given shots.  That nonagenarian would have been traumatized and the outcome may not have been very good.  Not knowing her past and thinking that she was an abandoned stray,  I was concerned about what was the right thing to do.  I agonized over it and thought about how she would  survive the winter out there in the woods.  Her coat is very thick as Mother Nature knows how to protect her creatures, but I wanted to make sure she was safe.  I am so glad we found out about her owners before we did something foolish.

So today I looked out my window into my yard and saw my friend sitting on the field stone in front of the woods, taking in the sun and looking contented.  If I went out, I knew she would come to me and I did not want that. Her constant traveling between the houses could do her in and I should not encourage her to come visiting anymore.  However, it is hard as I have become attached to her, but she does not belong to me and she has lived a life of freedom and doing what she wants.  She has survived on her own wits for a very long time and she should be left to be. 

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.

 Oh, I know, I am just an old softy who is a little sappy around the edges.  All animals, though, tug at my heartstrings especially those that seems so vulnerable. 

Now, about the farmer's cows that come a-callin' every now and then, well, that is another story for another day.