RIP Riley

After all the madness we've suffered this year already with the loss of Miss Priss, two shipments of deceased chicks, two stillborn doelings and three more with ailments that we weren't sure they would survive, we've really needed a break from the 'cycle of life'. Spring is about new beginnings and of course you can't have meaningful beginnings without endings...but I feel we've had more than our fair share lately.

A stressful week on the farm seemed to be coming to a close with Lily being 'released' into the wild care of her siblings and cousins and Maxie's buckling miraculously overcoming his bloody expulsions. Wednesday morning, I was finally heading back home (I usually leave the farm Sunday night...) when I saw something on the road that made my stomach lurch. Riley hadn't shown up for breakfast that morning. That's not the most unusual occurrence, but it didn't happen terribly often. I somehow convinced myself to just keep driving, it couldn't be him. But by the time I got to my first turn my delusion faded away. I headed back...and confirmed my suspicions.

Riley was a wonderful cat - the best feral cat a family could possibly hope for! He made his presence known the very first day we brought the other three cats to the farm last June. We think he had been living under the house for sometime, but just hadn't seen the right sign from us to let him know we were cat people. Well, the full bowl of cat food brought him to his senses! We saw him on and off for months, sometimes going a week or more between sightings. He was very skittish and only came out at night to steal a bite to eat. But slowly, he became used to the rhythm of life as a pet (we thought of him as a pet long before he accepted his role!).

This year especially, we bonded with the rascal. We made all sorts of warm cozy beds for him during the absurdly cold nights...only to have him refuse to use them (proper cat behavior you know!). He went from only appearing at night, to hanging around during the day playing with the other cats in the yard. Mom and I both touched his tail as he slipped between the porch stairs to sleep off the afternoon. We felt that someday he would actually enjoy a belly rub. He even made a venture into the house once...and promptly sprayed the couch and was shooed back outside!

I feel that we gave him a wonderful way of life for the short time he was with us. He was a rangy scared critter when we first met him. He actually reached the point of being fat once (he did slim down after the lady cats in the neighborhood complained) and was obviously content with his life. He purred when he saw us and wallowed in the dusty soil in the yard with the other kitties. Many nights he waited for us by the gate to finish the goat chores and escorted us back to the house, meowing the whole way. He truly was a great cat.

We brought him home to a final resting place amongst the other sad losses of the year.