We lost Salem last night. Had her for seven years and adopted her out once when she was a year old and it didn’t work out and she returned back to us. After that adoption, she changed and refused to come inside wanting instead, to live outdoors and hunt and just be a cat.If she found herself inside the enclosure, she showed all the signs of restlessness- prowling, crying circling until I finally gave in and opened the door and gave her the freedom she craved.

I found her on the road this morning. I don’t know what possesses them to go out on a busy road when they have all our four acres to roam, a creek to play in and all the food and water and shelter they need.

We got Salem when I received a frantic phone call from a girl who said her boyfriend had just bought home a kitten. She of course said she was delighted to see this black bundle and expected he would hand it over to her. Not so- he was planning on feeding the kitten to his pet boa! She said she cried, and begged and pleaded and he wouldn’t budge, so she went in the kitchen and made drinks and spiked his pretty heavily. He crashed out on the couch and she called me. I was there within 45 minutes of the call. Salem was about 4 weeks old at the time.

In the mornings, when I would go out to feed, she would come over to me, flop over on her belly and beg me to rub her belly. No more belly rubs and thankfully, she did not suffer in the end but that gives me no comfort at the moment.

My owie is still fairly prevalent so I need to go. But Salem, her life mattered and I wanted her to know that before I start my day-