Officially we do not
own a cat, having both agreed that they did too much damage to the local wild
life. After the fires some
cats survived when their owners were burnt out, and they had to fend for
themselves. One cat visited our shed at intervals
and we found kittens one year that my grand kids found homes for. Then one evening a cat (possibly the
kitten producer) turns up at the dairy with a large wound on its neck. I gave it a dish of milk and from then
on the cat stayed.
It was actually a very
useful cat. It dealt with the rat and mouse
population in the shed and then started to work on young rabbits, bringing them
to the dairy to show us before eating them. All that the
cat asked for was a bit of milk morning and evening and it worked tirelessly to
protect the shed and vegetables from vermin. Sometimes it
attempted pet behaviour but it was a grizzled old thing and was difficult to
even stroke. It would rub against my legs mewing when it wanted me to hurry
with the milk often almost tripping me up.
Where ever I went the
cat was there. It was there whilst I did the milking,
it followed me to the vegetable garden when I worked there and we just sort of
did everything together. The cat did not like school camps and
would be off to better hunting grounds when the school groups were here. At first when it was missing I did not worry but it got to
the time when we were pretty sure something had happened. Today when I was mowing I found a dried up body by the big
water tank. It was the cat,
its grey and black striped coat all dull and lifeless. I feel as if I have lost a best friend with out the chance to
say goodbye.
This cat chose us and
did enough to help us that we were glad it was around. It looked after itself and mostly led a very independent
life. A cat like this cannot
be replaced. I feel we need a notice on the gate declaring a vacancy for the
farm cat position so that any passing homeless cat knows there is a job going
but I will still miss this particular little animal.
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