A Sad Farewell to A Wonderful Caregiver

 

We are the Cats of Cal U. 

On Sunday morning, April 17, 2016, our lives were changed forever. Our main caregiver, a man who has been feeding us for years, has built us shelters, has trapped us and transported us to the vet for spay/neuter surgery and then brought us back, has raised our kittens on his back porch and socialized them so they could be adopted out to loving homes, our friend and champion, died in a house fire when he went back in to save his own three cats. He got his girlfriend out safely, but could not leave his babies behind. His name was Ed Marks, and he died as he lived—as a hero for cats.












We are left to wonder why his truck is not pulling up in the morning, and the gentle soul with the gray ponytail is not getting out to bring our food and talk to us. We wait for him every day and come running at the sound of his truck. We don’t understand why he left us.















We live along a beautiful river bank on a university campus, and our colony is the result of students who went home for the summer and left their pets behind to fend for themselves. Ed, with the help of several of his co-workers, took it upon himself to care for us. These people give of their own time and money to keep us healthy and warm. Ed bucked the administration and stood up for our rights, and for this we love him. What was once an uncontrolled colony is now a sustainable colony of about 40 cats. Most of us are spayed or neutered. A couple do slip through every year, and they are caught in the following summer's trapping. 

  

This year, the trapping will take place without Ed. His friends in the community have rallied around to make sure we get fed and vetted. We have seen many of the ladies crying, and we feel sad for them. We wish we could tell them we will be okay, but the truth is, we will miss Ed as much as they do. Someday we will see him and his three kitties at the Rainbow Bridge. But until then, rest easy, gentle friend. You were a prince among men.

The Cats of Cal U need people to carry on Ed's work. We need volunteers for feeding, trapping and transporting, and we need food. If you would like to help the Cats of Cal U, please visit our GoFundMe page at https://www.gofundme.com/2su9u24.

For more information on feral cat colonies and how you can help them, go to www.alleycatallies.org. 

A Wink From Olivia

This is my girl Olivia, or Libby-Lu. I used to be on the Board of Director for the Washington Area Humane Society in Eighty Four, PA, which is a no-kill shelter. Olivia had been at the shelter for so long that she had become their unofficial mascot and was allowed to roam freely throughout the Cat Castle. Whenever we would have board meetings, Olivia would come into the room and sit next to my chair, and I would pick her up and hold her. I think she is at least part Angora because I have never felt a coat so soft. Olivia would purr so loud when I petted her, I just couldn't believe nobody wanted her. Her sister Sophia had already been adopted.

Olivia was born with one eye deformed - or, the eye had not developed fully - so a vet had removed the eye and sewed her lid shut. I grew to love her so much that I promised her that if she was still at the shelter when I moved into my new house, I would come and get her. As it happened, I adopted her the day after I moved, in September 2003. She was 2 years old at that time and just had her 8th birthday.

Olivia is very shy around my other cats. I've found having a lot of cats is like having a kindergarten class - some are bullies, some are shy, some are outgoing and friendly, etc. Olivia is terrified of my more aggressive cats, so she stays in the spare bedroom most of the time. When my beloved tuxedo cat, Boots, was sick, I had to quarantine him for the last couple years of his life (not because of contagious disease but because he had chronic diarrhea), and Libby became his companion cat. She kept him company and hung out with him on the day bed, and she never seemed to mind being cooped up in the spare bedroom. After Boots passed away, I opened the door to the room but she seemed to prefer to stay in there by herself. I know she misses Boots.

Olivia likes the little igloo bed, and sometimes will venture out to sleep with me under the covers. When she does this she purrs literally all night long. She is a very sweet girl and just incredibly soft. She absoluely LOVES belly rubs, which is pretty unusual for a cat. All I have to say is "Does Libby want a belly rub?" and she will roll over on her back and stretch her legs out in both directions so I can give her a good, brisk belly rub all the way from front legs to back legs.

Having one eye didn't deter Libby from exploring her new house - here she is walking along the top of my library door, which is about 2 inches wide.