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| Name: |
Moonlight
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Age: |
Deceased, Three years old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Cat
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| Home: |
Tustin, California, USA
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I
nominate Moonlight the Stray, who came to accept me as his friend. About
three years ago I noticed that the cat food I was leaving out in the evening
for my cat Smokey to snack on was disappearing. Then soon after I caught a
glimpse of a ragged black and white cat scurrying away into the darkness at
just the slightest movement of the wind. Just a spooky little guy. So I
began to leave more food out and in no time I had a nightly visitor. Every
evening when the sun set this scrawny cat would appear, and so he became
known as Moonlight.
Moonlight made great strides in accepting me as his friend. From the
malnourished thief of a cat who would steal Smokey's food under the cover of
darkness to that of an occasional lap cat whose purr sounded like thunder.
Smokey tolerated him with an occasional nose boop. No longer a wisp of a
feline but a big hunk of a tom and as soon as the sun had set I would hear
Moonlight make his way upon the tops of the fences with a loud meow
announcing his arrival. He would then dine upon two cans of food and a plate
of crunchies before stepping inside for an hour long nap on the couch and an
occasional brushing. Afterward he would return to the back porch and enjoy
the evening for a few hours safe inside my yard. Sometime later he would
venture off to make his nightly rounds but would always return the next
night as sure as the moon would rise. For three years this feral cat and I
understood each other and respected our places in the world. He lived his
life and I lived mine, but for a few hours every evening we enjoyed each
other's company.
Then one evening he did not keep his dinner date. Nor did he the next night.
Worried I would walk the neighborhood looking for any signs but never saw
one. A week passed and nothing. On the ninth day I woke to find Moonlight
sitting at the back door and since the sun was up I knew something was
terribly wrong. I sat my injured friend in my lap for an hour and listened
to his broken purr as he tried to get comfortable, but the look in his eyes
told me a story that words could not.
Sadly, Moonlights injuries were too severe and he did not survive. Thank you
my friend, you will be missed. I'm honored you accepted me as one of your own.
See more images of Moonlight!
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