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.