Yesterday, I learned a cat I dropped off at a new home in Feb and who had gone missing not soon after (long story) had been spotted. It took some detective work on my part but I finally found a section of homes where a cat matching his description has been showing up and feeding. One kindly woman in particular is also a cat lover and she drove me around to all her neighbors asking who had seen him. Some neighbors recognized the description. He is very descriptive he is part Main Coone and a beautiful boy. So now, they are hopefully on the lookout for him and will call me should he show up.

Betty’s home where he feeds most often sits right at the edge of the forest but the other places range from across the road to up on a high hill. Betty, bless her heart kept apologizing to me about not being able to find him because she thought he was a stray someone dumped on her property (which happens quite often). I sat there last night with her through feeding time to watch the cats who come to feed, but he didn’t show up. I walked the edges of the forest calling for him- spoke to several folks about him, they all had seen him recently- but he never showed.

It breaks my heart to think about him wandering this area but I am grateful there are kind folks who have been feeding him. How he survived this winter is amazing, it was brutal but apparently his Main Coone traits are holding strong (they are originally forest cats) and he has perservered.

When I did my kitty call last night at the edge of that forest, I had a lot of different cats responding even a deer poked her head out as if to say to me; “what are you nuts?” One cat, a queen with her kitten approached me. I was praying on my knees near the forest and I looked up to see this gold and white beauty carrying a brilliant orange baby near me. I sat and watched her as she circled me growling, her kitten tucked securely in her mouth- although he was probably 4 months old and not liking the trip. I guess she thought I was there to take her one remaining baby from her and soon they turned and vanished into the forest.

I am so sorry McKinley. I hope you show up and I can finally bring you home and keep you safe. This morning, I can barely speak as I spent the better part of two hours yesterday calling for him. At least, he is still alive and I will return to Betty’s home time and time again to see if I can find him and bring him home.

I saw so many cats last night out in the fields, in the forest and just hanging about the homes. These kind people are feeding them but none really have a home. When I was watching the golden mom and her kitten, I wondered what happened to the rest of her litter? It is not common for a queen to only give birth to one kitten, if that queen is outside and roaming. Gold kittens, siamese mixes, black cats, tuxedos all of them just surviving because most were just dumped in this remote area. Betty kept saying “My dear, I am sorry, I thought he was a stray.” But with all the dumped kitties in her vicinity, how could she have known otherwise? I just hope I can make it right and bring this boy home.

Here he is on the left when he and his littermates arrived here. He is about 7 years old now. I still have his two sisters living here- the others were adopted out and doing quite well. I named them all after mountains- because as kittens they had been abandoned and I wanted to give them strong names.

Marion, just for you – the other tortie went home with her owner- but here is Rumbles