The Life of Lucy

How does a stray become a stray?
       Maybe it happens just this way,
starting three months ago, around the first of May...

The first time we saw Mama Cat, she was huge!  We knew she was pregnant, AND we knew she was hungry because she was eating a baby bird behind our shed on a Sunday morning.  My husband scatted her away from the nest of birds learning to fly, and I drove to the local dollar store to buy the semi-feral cat some Meow Mix! Thankfully, only one bird was digested during the process.  I placed a two-sided bowl on the patio and filled one side with cat food and the other side with a mixture of milk and water.  She licked both sides clean, and then she ran away.

Over the next few weeks, Mama Cat came and went.  Each time she returned, she would always jump on the outside ledge of our picture window ~ a signal to us that she needed sustenance.  She ate her food, drank her milk, and disappeared into the bushes.

Around the first of June, she delivered her kittens...somewhere.  We didn't see her for two or three days.  When she finally came back to her food bowl, she was emaciated.  I decided to buy some canned tuna and chicken to feed her while she nursed her kittens.  She never missed another meal ~ morning, noon, and night. She also began to interact with me, almost like a pet.  She let me pick her up, she sat in my lap, and she even tried to come inside on several occasions.  I almost felt as if this behavior was familiar to her.

So...I cleaned out the garden shed and set up living quarters for Mama Cat.  She had a permanent home, if she ever decided to bring her kittens.  Mama Cat quickly accepted the invitation.  She and her one baby kitten moved into their nice, dry, clean home during the week of the Fourth of July.

This past Friday night, the kids in the community were playing volleyball in our back yard when one of the girls saw Mama Cat.  "Lucy!" she shouted.  She ran towards the cat and grabbed her up in her arms.  I was shocked.  I had held Mama Cat, but I had never just embraced her without reservation. Then she went running to her mother with the cat dangling in her arms and exclaimed again, "Mom, look, it's Lucy!"

The little girl played with Lucy the rest of the evening and asked if she could visit Lucy again on Saturday.   The following morning, she told us that her dad had chased Lucy away because she was pregnant. Her mother explained that they couldn't afford to keep Lucy and that she was glad Lucy had found a good home. The little girl also informed us that Lucy gave birth to four kittens; however, we had only seen one. As they were leaving, I told the little girl that she was welcomed to visit Lucy anytime.

Lucy ~ Mama Cat had a proper name, so we named her one surviving kitten Linus...which brings me to today.  This morning, Lucy and Linus were playing on the carport.  I opened the storm door so that Riley could go tee-tee-in-the-yard, and somehow he startled Linus.  Lucy jumped on Riley with all fours!  I was screaming, Riley was yelping, and Lucy was scowling!   When I finally got Riley back into the house, he was covered in tiny claw marks.  Plus, he was totally freaked out! After I treated Riley's wounds, I chased Lucy and Linus back to the shed.

Later this evening, I saw Lucy back on the carport ~ lying underneath my car.  I was headed to a local restaurant to pick up a take-out order, so I made sure Lucy had moved before I backed out of the garage.  I assumed Linus was still in the shed.  I assumed wrong.  I drove about five miles to the restaurant and picked up my order.  About half-way home, I heard a thump.  I looked in my rear view mirror to see what I had run over, and there sat Linus in the middle of the road.  All of a sudden, he jumped up and ran into the tall grass on the side of the road!  That little kitten had lived through the entire ordeal!  I knew that Linus would never come to me if I called or even let me get close enough to catch him, so I had to go home and get Lucy.  Maybe she could call to him or he could call to her, and I could somehow get them both back home to the safety of their shed.

The car ride alarmed Lucy, but we quickly made it to the spot where the kitten had been flung from the car. As soon as I parked the car on the side of the busy state highway and opened the back door, Lucy bolted out of the car and and headed for the bushes. Now, both Lucy and Linus were hiding in the thicket. I called and called, but neither cat emerged from the brush.  So I got back into my car and drove home.

How would I ever be able to bring them back home?  How would they survive in the wild?  All I could hope is that maybe they could at least find each other during the night.

Once again, the life of Lucy had taken an unfortunate turn.  How does a stray become a stray...maybe it happens just this way.

Dianne