BARN CAT

One morning in 2013, Ken was doing his outside chores and discovered a stray cat and a litter of kittens under a workbench in the barn.  He fed her, and the kittens thrived.  As the kittens grew older, the mother cat began to take them outside.  One morning there was only one kitten.  Ken searched the area, but he could not find any of the other kittens.  He concluded that a predator had gotten them.

The one remaining kitten followed Ken wherever he went in that area.  It ran inside the barn whenever anyone else was there.  The barn was always mice-free. The cat also roamed the pasture around the barn and became a hunter.  Ken was the only one who could touch her.  He even managed to take her to the vet.  She did not come near the house at that time.  She was definitely a barn cat and definitely Ken’s cat.

The cat was friendly with the dogs we had.  About five years ago, our Catahoula, Daisy, was old and sick. She was listless on the weekend. We made plans to take her to the vet on Monday.  Daisy left her bed in the garage and went to the front fence. Ken brought her back inside.  Sometime during the next night, Daisy again went to the shrubbery at the front fence.  That is where Ken found her the next morning.  It had rained during the night, and Daisy was wet.  The barn cat was beside her and she was also wet.  The cat stayed beside the dog until the vet came and Daisy expired.

Three years later, we bought a Weimaraner, Gray.  As soon as he jumped out of the pickup, the barn cat ran.  Instinctively, the dog ran after her.  We had also taken our son Kevin’s Schnauzer, Radar.  He ran too.  Ken had a huge challenge to stop the dogs from chasing the cat.  It took a long period of time, but eventually, the cat and the two dogs tolerated each other.

Cold weather was a problem.  The dogs had insulated dog houses inside our insulated garage.  When the temperature dropped below a certain degree, the dogs slept in our utility room.  Three years ago, the weather was icy and colder than usual.  Ken tried to get the cat to stay in the garage. She would not.  He made her barn bed as warm as he could.  It was so cold one night, he put her in the garage and closed the door.  She decided that was not so bad!  She became good friends with Gray and eventually began sleeping in his doghouse with him.

The cat then began staying around the house.  She was still a hunter and wanted her fresh meat every day.   I was upset when she began to catch birds from the birdbath in our backyard.  Ken told me, “She is only being a cat.”  To my dismay, she jumped high and caught a hummingbird.  She once jumped high enough to grab the ring on the bottom of the feeder.  She was holding stretched her full length before she fell.  The feeders were raised higher.

One year the cat brought Ken presents.  The first one was a dead rattlesnake about 8 inches long with one button.  She left it on the front walk.  A few weeks later, she brought another slightly smaller one and left it in the driveway.

When Ken died in December, she searched the property for him.

Gray had cancer at that time.  He was moved into the utility room.  The cat would look in the room at him, but she did not enter.  Gray was euthanized in February.  She roamed looking for him.  She had lost her two best friends.

In March, daughter Cynthia, left the utility room door ajar to check what the cat would do.  The cat cautiously came inside and quickly ran back out.  About five minutes later, she came in and checked out the spot where Gray had laid. This was repeated.  Over a period of several days, the cat came further and further inside.  Over a period of weeks, she has come inside to make a tour of the house before she goes out.

The barn cat was transformed into a Garage cat.  Her name was also changed.  She had no official name earlier.  She was only called Barn Cat.  She is now “Miss Kitty.”

I thought she was outside one morning a few weeks ago.  I went into the living with a cup of tea and began to read.  Was I ever surprised when I looked over and saw this!