| The story of Mama cat |
| Sometime in 2005 or 2006, a stray cat began visiting me while I worked in my brown 8x10 shed. The cat would stand patiently outside the doorway and watch me tinker but would not let me come closer. Since I already had two seven-year-old cats indoors, I wasn't in the market for more. By Fall 2006, however, the cat revealed itself to be the mother of a batch of kittens. Since that time she has been known simply as Mama. Thus began a nearly yearlong string of kittens before I was able to catch Mama and get her spayed while she wasn't pregnant and didn't have dependents. I was able to find homes for most of her kittens, leaving only two boys to remain outdoors with her. My fenced yard and orbiting territories were Mama's domain for over fifteen years until July 24, 2020. Mama came into my world uninvited and she departed treasured and loved. |
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| October 2007 |
| This is one of the first photos of Mama and her progeny. Mama (upper) and Mister Three inspect a metal structure that would soon become the core of their castle. A neighbor brought me this unfinished metal frame which he found at the curb on a yearly recycling day. I added metal exterior, floor and insulation. The castle improved incrementally over the years, gaining heating pads, a small space heater, and a greenhouse roof. Mama and two of her offspring, Mister Three and Kitty Buddy Guy (KBG) slept and snuggled together in this barrier against the elements. |
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| May 2008 |
| Mama (front) watches warily while Kitty Buddy Guy naps contentedly on a chip pile just west of the blue shed. Evidently the chips make comfortable bedding and the tomato cages offer some protection from feathered predators. |
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May 2009 |
| I had the pleasure of watching Mama climbing a tree. This was not a common activity for her. This was the only time I photographed her doing so. |
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October 2009 |
| Mama (center) with both of her accomplices. Kitty Buddy is emerging from the kitty castle and Mister Three is eating. The castle stood in this spot next to the house for several years before moving to a more convenient location just outside a larger basement window. |
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October 2009 |
| Mama loved rubbing against walls, corners and other surfaces, especially the rough red brick exterior of the house. This photo characterizes the way she would walk for several feet with her head tilted as she pressed against a wall or object. |
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June 2010 |
| Mama at the top, Mister Three to the left and Kitty Buddy Guy at the right. People ask me how I am able to differentiate among three cats who look so similar. Mama's tan/brown is quite a bit lighter than her two mackerel tabby boys. Mister Three has distinctive accent streaks on his cheeks and KBG's fur is slightly lighter. |
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July 2011 |
| Mama was savvy about finding shady or safe places to nap. Cars and trailers provided some of her favorite spots. If you look closely you'll see a small checkered fabric square under her front paws. In August 2010 flooding along the creek to our east carried lots of trash along the stream and into our yard. One such item was this small catnip pouch which Mama brought home for herself. |
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October 2011 |
| Left to right: Kitty Buddy Guy, Mister Three, Mama. The three outdoor cats are sitting on the hood of my yellow 1976 Dodge Colt. Though it's a technically poor picture, I've always liked it for the glowing eyes. Sadly, Mister Three was killed by a car in the street in front of our house about two weeks after this photo was taken. Mama and KBG forged on side by side for the next eight years until KBG suffered a serious eye injury which forced me to bring him inside. |
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January 2012 |
| I call this image "Bookends". This is one of the earliest photos of the cat castle in its new and final location, just outside of tall basement windows which made maintaining the cats much more convenient for me. A Panasonic BL-C1A IP camera hanging from the basement ceiling looks out on the cat abode and allowed me to keep something of an eye on them from anywhere. The gloomy cast and the suggestion of standing guard are reminders of the recent loss of Mister Three. It was amazing how close and loyal Mama and KBG remained to each other over the years despite being semi-feral cats. |
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February 2012 |
| One of the most significant improvements to the cat castle was the addition of an upside down 75-gallon aquarium as a greenhouse roof. The aquarium is waterproof, windproof and captures an enormous amount of solar energy. On a sunny winter day it can be as much as fifty degrees warmer in this compartment than outside, making it the hangout of choice for quite a few hours per day. With enough sun a twenty degree day outside is transformed into a seventy degree day inside. The cats were very appreciative when I later added taller side coverings so that they would not be distracted and alarmed by bothersome photographers and other snoops. |
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October 2012 |
| On a beautiful Fall day Mama (left) and KBG are sitting on a piece of industrial rubber belt on my Dixon ZTR lawn mower trailer. |
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January 2013 |
| While clearing snow from the driveway I set my stocking cap down for mere moments and found it had been appropriated by Mama while it was still warm. |
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May 2013 |
| This time the darker side of the conveyor belt chunk is turned upward which makes it quite a bit warmer. |
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June 2013 |
| The wooded stream between our yard and the (former) horse pasture to the east contains all manner of greenery. This fallen tree forms an arch whose peak is about three feet above the ground. I was lucky to find Mama relaxing on top of the arch while I had a camera handy. |
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August 2013 |
| Mama peers at me from above and behind Kitty Buddy as I look out from the basement window. Green 1978 Dodge Colt and 1978 Plymouth Sapporo are in the background. |
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November 2013 |
| Another example of mother and son traveling as a pack. They are inside the shell of a 1979 Dodge Colt which is being disassembled. They just have to get into anything they can. |
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March 2014 |
| Mama is snuggled in a pile of dried leaves outside the basement's south window, just around the corner from her castle. |
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February 2015 |
| Yep. They just can't resist climbing and conquering. Mama is looking down somewhat frumpily from the roof of a Colt. |
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May 2015 |
| Who knew there were so many uses for a folded tarp? A tarp folded on itself about five times makes a wonderful bed for a curious and content Mama kitty. This is inside of a small utility/cargo trailer with 2' tall sides. |
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July 2015 |
| No worries - she's definitely NOT dead here. She knows how to kick back and enjoy a good nap. This little sliver of concrete is between my brown 8x10 shed and a long line of shrubbery. This zone makes her feel protected and she can use it for shade or sun as needed. |
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August 2016 |
| Mother and son relaxing on the driveway. He never took the hints about moving out and living on his own. |
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September 2016 |
| A posture of relaxed conquest as Mama stretches out on the hood of Yellow. |
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January 2017 |
| A reprise of the "Bookends" theme. Again, Mama on the left and KBG on the right. Note some changes to the castle since the previous 2012 "Bookends" photo. The wooden end wall with a square portal made it too difficult to see inside, especially from the webcam's perspective. I cut out most of the wood and installed an easily removable Plexiglas wall with a round portal. A heated water dish was an immense improvement for the winter months. |
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July 2018 |
| Two kitties on the driveway again. The date and location of this photo remind me of the substantial laxening of Iowa fireworks laws which took effect beginning July 2018. That change resulted in a vast increase in the number and duration of private fireworks. |
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May 2019 |
| Mama's fur got lighter as she aged. It contrasts nicely with the lush lawn. |
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September 2019 |
| In late August 2019, Kitty Buddy accidentally poked himself in the eye in the woods, presumably by running into a protruding stick or branch. The injury was severe enough that he was in danger of losing the eye. He spent a couple weeks boarded with the vet so they could care for him and save the eye. This was the last in a long string of KBG's escapades which drove my decision to bring him inside for good. It broke my heart to separate the two companions, but Mama was just too feral to tolerate being forced inside. She searched and cried for him for a couple weeks before settling in to her new solitude. Loneliness may have made her more receptive to my domesticating overtures which eventually led to her eager acceptance of petting, ear-rubbing and neck-scratching. This image shows the first time I was able to get in a couple of full-length pettings without too much resistance. She then moved out of my reach, but came back within seconds and rubbed affectionately against the window frame. |
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May 2020 |
| Just ten weeks before her death, Mama did something new: she killed a rabbit and brought it to me. I know she has watched, stalked and probably killed rabbits in the past, but I never saw her kill one and she certainly never brought one to me, in contrast to Kitty Buddy who was an accomplished and proud hunter. In retrospect this feels like her "last hurrah". Maybe she knew her time was getting short and had a burst of exuberance, or maybe she wanted to fulfill the role left open by now-absent Kitty Buddy. I'll never know. I was honored that she shared her triumph with me. |
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June 2020 |
| Another case of relaxing under or near a car, this time a 1982 Plymouth Sapporo. This car came to be her favored umbrella. Lacking sunshine, the concrete under a parked car remains cool even on the hottest summer day. |
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July 24, 2020 |
| By July of 2020 Mama's eating had tapered off to an inadequate level. At the end she only weighed 4.5 pounds, down from a high of probably seven or eight pounds. She was never a big cat, but she had become so scrawny that I couldn't let her spend her last days or weeks suffering needlessly. By July 24 I couldn't coax her out from under the car with the usual lure of fresh canned food. |
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July 24, 2020 |
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We were fortunate to be able to take Mama to
Dr. Steve Safris of Westfield Veterinary in Johnston.
Steve has escorted us on many journeys
of feline joy and sadness over the years.
I am reminded once again of a line from Sara Henderson Hay cited by Robert James Waller in "A Canticle for Roadcat": "How could this small body hold so immense a thing as death?" |
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July 24, 2020 |
| The previous owners of our property left a large pile of flat granite fragments, some with one or two edges machined flat, the other edges rough. My guess is that these were rejects or refuse from a quarry or monument maker. Several times in the past I've hired professionals to make pet headstones, but for Monkey and Mama I tried something different. I used an abrasive masonry disc with an angle grinder to cut lettering, then filled in the grooves with black paint. It turned out OK. |
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