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Last Updated: 1/8/24
This site is dedicated to my seven sweet girls, Bootsy, Kisty, Samantha, Elvisina, Doodally, GK (oops, not sweet), and Tinkerbelle (my best little angel) and to my immortal boy Tootsy and my angel boys Gino and Barney.
My Living Cats
My Deceased Cats
Some people say this site is morbid but it is a memorial to my cats who I will never forget. Reading about their lives and deaths may help others with ill cats or who are struggling to make sense of senseless deaths as well.
Tommy was a stray tomcat (intact male). He came and ate Samantha's food every few days for a number of years. He would not let anyone touch him. Because he got along with Samantha, they probably were dumped or discarded together. Both were probably shot at since she has bullets in her. That would explain why it took her two months to trust us. Tommy has been around since she showed up in 1994 or maybe a little later in 1995. That is another reason that they were probably living together before. Poor Tommy was a shorthaired orange and white tabby. He was beautiful despite cuts all over his face and ears and being underfed. He mostly relied on wild prey and the food we put out to survive. I wish we could have befriended him. In case you are wondering, I knew that he is an intact male because most of the time that I saw him, he was running away with his tail up. His large testes were quite evident. Sometimes he made tomcat calls in the summer (pitiful wails). Tommy disappeared in the Fall of 1999. In his bad condition, I can only assume that either the winter weather (cold, wet, lack of food) or a predator got him.
Jigs was a feral cat. I am not sure of his/her sex but I would have to guess male by the cat's attitude. He used to come to eat leftover cat food every day or so in 2000 but was rarely seen by 2001 (probably due to Tippy, see below). He would not let any person near him. Jigs was an all black short-hair. He ran funny, like he was doing a jig. Once when we had over a foot of snow, he hopped into it to avoid me, and I got a good look of this cat bouncing in and out of the snow. In 2001, Jigs' ears were torn which again indicates a tom cat. Jigs was only Gino's age since he first appeared as a kitten when Gino was a kitten. I could tell he was feral (and not just a neighbor's cat) by his extremely wary behavior. All the neighbor's cats came over too but they did not run off as quickly and looked healthy enough. Jigs has not been seen since early 2001 and is presumed dead.
Tippy was a large (20 pound) intact, tom cat. He was a gray tabby with a white tip on his tail, thus Tippy. I saw him up close and verified that he was an un-neutered male. He was very wary but after a few months of daily feeding, he let me touch him for a few seconds at a time each morning in February of 2001. I would guess that although he would not let me touch him much, he was one of my neighbor's cats. This one neighbor does not believe in spaying or neutering, or restraining cats or dogs, or feeding "mouser" barn cats. So, his tom cat mouser was available for any un-spayed queen's in the area. I gained Tippy's trust over time but could never adopt him as he was the neighbor's by law. This neighbor also had a tom cat a few years ago. After we called to see if it was his, he had him "put to sleep" because he was "bothering" us (that is behaving like a purring angel in our flower garden). That is why we could not call to verify that Tippy was his. Tippy did something strange when I fed him. He wailed like he would die if he were not fed, almost like a kitten, and then, he hissed at me like he means business. Between hisses, he let me pet him if I did it fast (before he notices). By June of 2001, he no longer hissed at me but still did not like to be petted much (unlike GK). By 10/8/01, Tippy was outside at least half the mornings and meowed loudly and seemed to like to be petted, as long as I put some food down. By 5/27/02, Memorial Day, when I last saw Tippy alive, he was my cat in every way except legal. My parents would not let me take him to the vet, have him neutered, or put a collar on because he was the neighbor's cat even though he did not tend to him in any way. Tippy came almost every morning to eat. I would pet him, and he seemed to like it. Other times during the day, he would vanish or show up and act like he did not know me. While eating he purred, and I removed a few ticks here and there and knots and tended his battle wounds. On 5/28/02, I saw a dead cat about a half mile from home and noted it was the same color pattern as Tippy. It was not until the next morning, 5/29/02, that I got out of the car along the highway and walked to him. His huge jowls, large teeth, circular patterns on his tabby coat, and most of all his white tip on the tail told me that this was Tippy. He was killed without a thought and tossed to the side like a piece of worthless trash. He certainly did not deserve to die like that. If only I could have adopted him, if only his true owners were not so horrible, if only the driver cared at all, Tippy would still be alive. I collected him for burial. Both he and I were outcasts. I was the only one who ever loved him. I cannot forget his life. He was not worthless as everyone says. My father refused to help dig the hole because he said Tippy was not our cat. I dug the hole alone for him.
Lucky - one back leg and part of an ear were
removed after the previous "owners" mutilated him; old and sweet as can be
Tabby - showed up a few years ago and put on
weight
Patches - recently showed up
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