Problems solved?
I *think* I’ve finally got my hardware problems resolved – well, except for that little glitch this morning that ate my weather report.
Cats… It’s really been a bad summer/fall for the barn cats. We’ve lost 4 since the beginning of summer and the last two were probably the hardest. I’ve tried not to get too emotionally attached to the outdoor cats, as it’s a foregone conclusion that their life spans are much shorter than indoor cats, but it always happens.
The one that didn’t come as a great surprise was Port. Because of her problems with the rest of the tribe, she had basically moved to the neighbors, but has always returned for dinner and and an occasional visit in the house. She’s been missing for nearly a week.
The hard one was Mia. Born feral and not captured until she was over five weeks old, she was a handful. She and her brother were called Hellfire and Damnation before they were given names. She slowly started trusting Eileen and I, and over this past summer discovered she loved being petted (though she still freaked out if picked up). I worked hard on her and the results were very satisfiying. She’s been missing two weeks.
I recently had a long conversation with a friend that doesn’t believe that cats should be allowed to run free outdoors. She says it’s unkind to allow them to face all the dangers that are present out there. I reminded her that we did have as many as 9 indoor cats and our outdoor cats are spayed/neutered, kept up on their shots and provided with plenty of food and attempts to keep them safe. Yes, it *may* be possible to find homes for all of our ferals, but in the end it’s either a short life outdoors or a possibly shorter life in an animal shelter with the faint hope of finding a home.
As much as I mourn the losses, I’m proud to say that *all* of our cats have had as good a life as we can provide them. It would be nice if they all could come indoors, but it’s neither practical or possible considering the various personalities.
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