She was the alpha female for the ferals. I knew something was wrong last Spring when she didn’t have any kittens, having consistently produced two every season. She has been getting thin lately, and was probably taken by a respiratory infection.
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17 comments
Sad. Ferals never last as long as one hopes (except for the ones who last longer than one hopes). Seven years is actually not too bad for a feral, but I always hate to see ’em go.
.-= last blog ..Sunrise, Sunset… Sunrise, Sunset… =-.
Molly is at least 15, but I managed to get her fixed, which is what makes the difference. The Lone Ranger beat the average by two years, and her sibling, Tonto is still around.
One of the reasons that she and Tonto have lasted is that they would kitten-sit for each other, and both had small litters. The momma cats really lose weight when they are feeding kittens, and the extra food and vitamins I put out don’t seem to help.
Now the leadership will have to be settled.
Sorry to hear about her passing Bryan. Our Bebe is now over 8 years and so different from the emaciated cat we took home (she had been nursing too). I daresay if she had remained a feral cat she would have been dead by now.
.-= last blog ..Death marks the loss of another language =-.
Farewell, Lone Ranger!
We will miss you.
.-= last blog ..Friday Ark #281 =-.
Sorry to hear of her passing. What gorgeous eyes she had, though.
.-= last blog ..Which Montecito Restaurant =-.
She looks pretty good for a feral. 🙂 I’m sure you had something to do with that Bryan. You know they would never had stayed around if they didn’t feel comfortable there.
She did have a good run. R.I.P. Lone Ranger! 🙂
I thank you all for your comments. She was important in maintaining order in the community, and in allocating food. She was always ready with a paw if somecat tried to muscle out kittens that were being weened, which sped the process along to the relief of the momma cats.
Bast knows who the next alpha will be.
See? Women should rule the world!
I love your attention and concern over the kitties of your neighborhood, Bryan… and love their names. But.. shouldn’t her name have been Lone Rangerette?
May she romp in fields of catnip and slow-witted mice.
.-= last blog ..Friday!! =-.
You’re being old-fashioned. She was an alpha female and meted out justice to one and all. Behind that mask was a heart of flint when it came to rule breakers.
Also, that was my cowboy period for names.
I had a friend across the street who named cats for opera roles, hence Dot and Sox’s grandmother was Brunhilde.
awww, i’m sorry to hear this.
i loved the name the lone ranger for a grrrrrl cat. i’m all in favor of breaking stereotypes whenever possible.
Well, LR certainly provided the “GRRR” and with that face and catitude, a “normal” name just wasn’t appropriate.
BTW, Dot and Sox were not named by me. I would have called Dot, Holstein after her great greatmother, and Sox, Eightball.
Bryan, I am so sorry to hear about Lone Ranger. 🙁 Poor kitty. But she had a great life with you around to take care of her!
.-= last blog ..Timing =-.
I try to be as unobtrusive as possible, Moi, because these aren’t stray cats, they are truly feral and deserve their space. They also fill a necessary gap left by all of the natural rodent predators, predominately large reptiles, being eliminated by man. I show them laying around because they do their “job” at night.
Poor kitty. How sad. She was a beauty. I remember when we had outside cats. They usually didn’t live past 5 years.
It’s not an easy life, especially with the cold up your way. We are heading into another cold spell, so I worry about a couple of the old timers, They may have shed their underfur already. I’ll see what I can do.
keeping my fingers crossed for your old timers.
.-= last blog ..Oh, look! Blogger loves me after all! =-.
At least one of them has taken to sleeping by my Mother’s kitchen door, and several younger cats have joined in, so he’s probably OK.