Muffin

I was 7 years old when we moved to the home which my mother still owns. That was in 1976. The next spring, my mom started feeding a pretty black cat with a white chest. After a couple of weeks, this kitty started bringing around her three kittens. One day the momma kitty stopped coming around, and my mom felt so bad for the kittens that she kept on feeding them. She did get close enough over the course of a couple of weeks to determine that there were two boys and a girl; one of the boys was pretty small, she called him the runt of the litter.

We watched the three grow up together, there on our back patio. One day only two kittens were there; the runt male and the female. A few weeks later, only the runt male was left. (I found out later that the female had been taken in by a family a few blocks away; we never found out what happened to mommy or the other male.) Mom was adamant that we would NOT bring this cat in; but once when I was at school she decided to try it, and oh my goodness did she get the fright of her life.

Welcome to Muffin's page! Sadly, he is no longer with us to tell you his story himself; he went on to Rainbow Bridge just over ten years ago. So I, his beloved meowmie, will tell his story to you.

One November day, instead of bringing his food outside, Mom opened the patio door and put the dish in the middle of the family room floor. He came in slowly, unsure of himself. He slowly made his way through the house, checking out everything in site. He was okay until mom went to get up; then he freaked and ran for the patio door, which mom had CLOSED. DOINK! He bounced right off that glass sliding door, shook it off and TOOK OFF. He tore through the house, frantically looking for an escape, bouncing off every window he could find!

My mom got so scared, she ran around the house and opened every last door and window, and stood outside until she saw him leave! We didn't see him for a week; but afterwards, he came in more often and stayed longer, until one day he just laid down and went to sleep instead of going back outside. From that point on he was our furbaby! He continued to make regular trips outside for a few years, but the trips became fewer and farther between over time until one day he just stopped, and became an inside-only cat.

Muffin was a wonderful cat. The first few years, he would stay out of sight whenever we had company over; after that, he wasn't afraid of ANYBODY. In fact, he would make it a point to come over and check out any newcomers, as if he wanted to make sure they were okay to be there!! Meeting him for the first time, you would NEVER have known he was a feral cat. He was the friendliest, most loving cat you would ever have the pleasure of meeting! He truly was a joy to have around. I'm lucky to have been able to grow up with him!