R.I.P. Impostor Cat

Nate and I had an unpleasant surprise as we headed to work this morning. As we turned the corner to exit the gate we saw Impostor Cat on the middle of the road. Nate saw her first and he was very upset. When I looked up from my phone I immediately recognized her. I didn't want to believe my eyes, but it was her.

We quickly pulled over to the curb and I ran back to the house to grab a trash bag and some gloves. We didn't want her to get run over again and we definitely did not want to leave her out there.

Nate knows I don't have a strong stomach for this so he carefully crossed the street and gently picked her up and put her in the bag. We then took her to the backyard to get a better look at her. I know it is a morbid thing to do but we needed to make sure she was not mauled by my asshole neighbor's stupid dog and thrown out on the street to throw us off.

Unfortunately, she had been hit by vehicle. Probably sometime before dawn. No signs of bite marks. Her collar was missing. Nate went back out on the street and we spotted it a few feet from where she was laying. It was undone. The impact must have knocked it off. Judging by her injuries, which was not visible, the damage was internal I can say she died instantly. I should take comfort in that but I don't. I find it extremely upsetting.

This has always been our number one fear for the stray cats we take care of. That they should cross the street. We take great pains to make sure they would not need to and provide shelter, food and water for our cat colony. But Impostor Cat has always been curious. More so than the average cat. Pickles and Dhani inherited that trait from her.

As of late, a new male cat had been coming over from across the street at night. He's a tuxedo. Mostly white with a black back. He has a dumb looking face and we named him Paul. After a Family Guy episode with Mayor West and the "catarang".

Nate said Impostor Cat may have gotten curious about him and may have attempted to follow him back. We know he comes from the houses past the field across the street.

Impostor Cat had a habit of disappearing for days at a time. No longer than three days though. We suspected she wandered but I guess she did the occasional crossing.

I can go on and on and speculate on who, why and how but it doesn't change anything. She's gone. All I know is that we are heartsick at her loss and I am angry at whoever hit her.

She was feral but she was friendly and allowed us to pet her and pick her up. She gave us Mariposa, Dhani, Tono-chan and Pickles.

Pickles is currently up North with my sister and her husband and it will be difficult to look at him as he has the exact same coloring as his mother. His face is a little different.

We have done and continue to do what we can with what is left with the colony. We are now down to four outside cats. Dhani's Dad, Silver, Lee and Bree. MomCat does not count as she lives in our house now. She occupies the guest bathroom. Paul comes by at night but not often and we do see a beautiful and large Siamese cat wandering in once in a blue moon. That one we know is a pet because he/she looks clean and well fed. Other than that only four. When there used to be many but that's what happens when you spay and neuter the colony. Eventually, there will be few cats around.

This is the last picture I took of her. As she playfully rolled around on her back in our backyard. This was taken on April 09, 2011. She was probably six years old. When we met her she was a young female. Possible even one of MomCat's kittens even.

Her body was taken to our long time veterinarian for disposal. We kept her collar and tag which I just replaced a month or so ago. She was a sweet and affectionate cat despite being feral. She will be sorely missed.