Momcat the Barncat

Sitting out on the brick terrace with a cup of coffee is one of my favorite weekend activities at Hawksbill Cabin.  As the winter comes on, the angle of the sun combines with the house’s orientation to make it fairly warm, and I’ll light up the fire pit for good measure to add some comfort.  Also, Momcat likes to hang out there.

This little cat has been hanging around the place for four years or so – she’s the definition of an outside pet.  I think she had two litters of kittens before we had her spayed (we worked with Cats Cradle in Harrisonburg – her clipped ear is the sign for this) and we ended up adopting her daughter as an indoor cat (and Buster!).  We invited Momcat to join us first, but she lives on her own terms.

Instead, we’ve provided a couple of little shelters out by the garage for her and some of the other barncats to hang out in when it is cold.  We recruited a neighbor to help out with feeding them – we provide a couple of bags of food per month for the four or five barncats around here (all fixed by Cats Cradle).

Momcat did give us a scare last year – she disappeared for a while.  I took a photo of her in May 2014 before we went on our vacation to Mendocino and the Bay Area, and then we didn’t see her again until last winter.  Our theory was that she had been chased off by an unaltered male stray that hung around here for a while, who’s moved on now.

In any case – this little mouser is a good friend of ours.  We’re always happy to find her hanging around.