Sometime last night, Slim my semi-feral barn cat was struck by a car. With two broken legs he somehow managed to bring himself home and die on his favorite bed of hay in the barn. My heart is breaking for him, but he was the type of cat who could not get along with the other cats. He loved Mike and I- but when another cat came close to him and he was inside of a home or a room, all hell would break loose. Outside however, he mixed freely with the other barn cats without incident.

Slim showed up here about a year ago. I suspect he was a part of the litter that I had adopted out- and the woman for whatever reason tired of him and brought him back a year later without alerting me. The reason I suspect this is because he immediately went over to our dog and snuggled down. This litter I reference were raised at the belly of our spayed female- that is where they slept and found comfort and she stimulated them to poop as well.

I called the woman but the phone had been disconnected and I drove over there but the house was empty. Slim stayed on, refusing to come indoors and play nice with the others. If I brought him indoors, he sprayed like a fire hose marking everything in his path until the door of freedom was opened and off he went to hunt in the barn.

Slim- now you run in heaven’s grasses with the ones who traveled this way before you. I am sorry I let you down my black friend- please know that you were loved.