Memorials

Pepper - a good dog and a good friend
Rest in Peace

In Memoriam 12 23 18 Flame the cat

A neighborhood cat died recently , hit by a car on a little-traveled dirt road, maybe
run over by a truck making holiday deliveries, though I have no idea really how it happened.
This cat was a feral cat that hung around the house. I called him Flame, because of an orange
band on his back; most of his coat was typically feral,with black spots on a gray background.

He was one of a litter of four kittens of a feral mother who happened to have her young under my front porch. I first saw them when when they were about 3-4 weeks old.
After a few weeks, a strange thing happened: one of them-the cat I called Flame-left his siblings and hung out on the back porch all by himself,though his mother would nurse him
there (while also nursing his siblings on the front porch). I would see him there at night,often playing by himself with real or imaginary((at least hard for me to see) objects.
I felt sorry for him, but he turned out to be a tough little kitty. When the adult cats were feeding, he would stand in the middle of the food, make this strange sort of kitten growl and
the adult cats would stand back until he was done feeding-and he ate a lot and was there a long time. I was shocked and called him "the kitten from hell". Understand he was only maybe 5-6 weeks old(by my guesstimate) at this time, and much smaller than the adults seemingly fearfiul of him. His mother was either not there or else did not in any way assist him.

Then maybe after two weeks of going it alone, I was again amazed because he rejoined his siblings on the front porch,and they again banded together like he had never been gone..

So I observed this cute quartet for many happy weeks as their mother slowly weaned them. When they became juveniles, they would follow me around when I walked outside,
as you might expect pet dogs to do. Flame and one other kitten were the most friendly, and would rub against my legs. I never picked them up though, because I did not want to socialize feral cats.

All was well until as I drove to church one Sunday morning, I saw a dead cat on the road.
I was late so had to wait until I got back,hoping and praying it was not one of the feral kittens.
Tragically, it was-Flame. I moved his body to my backyard and buried him,with a heavy heart.

This was particualrly sad for me because it happened only two days before Christmas-as I said tihs may not be a coincidence as traiffic on this isolated road increased over the holidays.
I wanted to write this cat obituary, both as part of my greiving process, and also so that
there would be at least a record of this unusual and -turned out-very sweet kitten. Rest in peace, Flame. I was told there is no death, so I assume good kitties like you are playing in God's yard now,instead of mine.