Opie (Opelika)

 It was 25 years ago, almost to the minute, that Opie came into my (and Lorraine's) life. It was Christmas day, and we were on the road from Northern Virginia to Niceville, Florida. We had stopped at the Denny's just off the freeway to get some dinner. We finished our meal (I had the turkey dinner), and I headed out to the truck while Lorraine made a quick call.

When I got to the truck, I could hear a cat meowing. I said something to the cat, and she ran over to where I was standing. She was pretty insistent about getting attention. It was odd to have a small cat in a Denny's parking lot, so I went inside to see if anyone knew anything about this cat. They'd heard it outside throughout the day, but had to idea where it belonged. 

I checked (unsuccessfully) at a nearby motel...still no clues.

So, we packed up the cat, and headed south.

After some amazing adventures without us, we picked here up (again) in Niceville on our way north (back to Northern Virginia), about a week later. 

She lived with us for 17 1/2 more years. What a great cat!

Cinder, near the very beginning of the trail

Taken right after we brought her home from Accotink Park. Very small and somewhat wild, but always a great companion.

Cinder...my little semi-feral and completely great cat

The Cinder story started, for me, just before Thanksgiving 2005. The staff at Lake Accotink had trapped a cat family, and put out a call for people to adopt the cats. Lorraine and I decided to wander down to the park office to take a look at the last kitten that they were trying to place. We had only one cat at the time (Opie), and knew that we had room for one more, especially one that was going to be released if they couldn't find a home. Release back into the park was going to mean a very short life, given the predators here in the county (I routinely have foxes in my back yard!).

The kitten wasn't habituated to people, and was on the outer limits time-wise for habituation. We knew that Cinder would be a tough case, but decided to bring her home to give it a good try. She was here for a week or two before Lorraine let her out of the kennel so she could get the run of the house. We were renovating (again), so there was a lot of stuff moved around in the house. The kitten took full advantage of all the new hiding places, and moved right in. She was completely fascinated by Opie, and settled in like a champ. Opie and Cinder lived a great life together, with more than a little drama caused by the younger cat insisting on touching the older one.

Opie died on 4 July 2017, so Cinder has had the run of the house by herself for most of the intervening time. I'd tried to adopt another cat, but Cinder just wasn't having it, so that little experiment ended.

Cinder reached the end this evening. It was a great run, and I have a lot of great memories. She (and I) got a full 14 years out of having her here in the house. I'll miss her greatly.

Ginger cat Sonja

I was fostering / adopting an older cat from Fancy Cats, hoping to give Cinder a nice companion. Sonja turned out to be a bit high-strung, and a real hunter, so she didn't get along with Cinder. Cinder didn't appreciate being stalked, and spent all of her time upstairs, under a bed or under the desk. Not a good quality-of-life.

So, I had to return Sonja this morning. Though she'd only been in the house since 31 July 2017, she'd settled in nicely and was a lot of fun to watch. She was frequently stretched out on the floor in the "new" room, and liked to lay on the couch and knead the large pillow. She spent her days sequestered in the new room, sitting on the scratching post and watching the wildlife out the window. I'd let her into the remainder of the house in the evenings (and on the days I worked from home); she had built a small blanket nest on the chair near the dining room table, and was content to knead the blankets until she fell asleep.

It was really hard to return her, but Cinder's quality of life was taking a hit. I'm hoping that Sonja finds a nice home where she can get a lot of attention, but without the distractions of another cat.

Cinder has already been out during the day more than I've seen in months. I think she can definitely feel the difference already.