in memory of

Patches.

We adopted this kitten two years ago. The ugly truth is... my sister had too many cats, many with ringworm. She dropped Patches off at our house. See the ringworm on her nose?

Now, let me tell you the truth about cats. There are cats and then there are CATS. Patches was a cat; her grandmother was a house-cat. Barn CATS don't typically get along with house-cats, at least around here. Barn CATS hunt for their food if they're hungry. Cats with "house" in their blood wail at the back door hoping for some scraps from the table.

I used to like Patches, but she was a dumb, dumb cat. She didn't know the basic methods of survival; she actually thought Lucy wanted to play with her. Lucy really wanted to eat her. It's a wonder she lived to be full-grown.

She passed ringworm on to our kids. Her yeeeoowwwwing by the back door didn't bother us for a while, but pretty soon it got annoying. After she had her first litter of kittens, she developed a severe case of diarrhea and vomiting. And since then, she has walked with a hump back because she poops so often. Seriously, it's every 4 steps.

The barn cats shunned her. We started shunning her too; it stinks to be pooped on by Patches. Our deck got pooped on too.

Patches had three litters of kittens, all as clueless as she. Her kittens had a 12% survival rate.

This past Sunday, Patches went missing. Her kitten, Marmalade, has been bawling. Marmalade is also shunned by the barn cats. Marmalade was covered in dog slobber today. She's still alive and able to feed herself, but she's caked with dirt.

We aren't too upset about the absence of Patches and the whole situation, but a thought popped into my head this afternoon as the once-wild kitten came running, all crusty and smelly. This is what an orphan must feel like. The whole situation seemed painfully similar to what some people must go through. And I swallowed a hard lump.