I started out feeding stray cats. What was near twenty cats has now gone down to two. Is it a fact that strays live about two years out in the open environment? It sure looks like it. I started feeding cats in 2009, after losing my job. The company moved my department to Florida. I wasn't rich, but I had enough money to give back to something. And I chose to feed harmless animals (cats).
An evicted family from a house down the street was how I got Likes 'Em Green to my house for food. I guess they could no longer feed her and so they let her loose to defend for herself. The cat was a tough old girl though. She had litter after litter. Something always seemed to happen to them though. They were poisoned, eaten by predators, ran over in the street, and such. But Likes 'Em Green seemed to survive and use her nine lives like no other. I named her the name I did by the people yelling from their front porch wanting some of my tomatoes. "I likes 'em green," the lady yelled, and that's how the name came about. I keep thinking I should have named her Longevity instead. She has certainly had a long outside life. After five years, has that life ultimately come to an end?
A female cat can have kittens on up until death, or so the internet says. I don't have any idea how old she was. She was an adult when she came here. She was pregnant the last time I saw her. In fact, she seemed bigger than usual. She came back once after having her kittens somewhere. I could tell she was not herself. After that time, she has returned no more. I wonder if giving birth had finally taken her. If so, she and kittens are no more. It is weird how one grieves for an animal. Although she was a stray and I was never able to touch her, I find myself missing her. I have that thought in the back of my mind, hoping that maybe someone out there with a kind heart took her and her kittens in. Or maybe with her survival skills, she's catching small mice and feeding her babies on her own. I can only hope.
You take care of yourself Likes 'Em Green. To me you were more than just a cat. You were a friend.
About Me
- Teresa Hill
- I'm retired and a freelance writer.
Check out these books, by me and my family, available for Kindle:
A Front Porch Trilogy
Where Do Socks Go?
We Count
My Brother's Plot
I have also published two more books on kindle but am currently unable to get the links to work. They are: The One Little Pig and Who Killed Freddie Mouse? Also check out other blogs and websites by me and my family:
My Life With Cats
My Life With Dogs
