I started feeding Socks and his offspring in 2004. All of these felines lived in the parking area behind my job. There were kittens and adults multiplying faster and faster. My boss and I started trapping them and fixing them and tried to find homes for the young ones. After a year, we finally had it under control. Every now and then a new cat would join and we would make sure they were fixed. Socks was always my favorite. He was so handsome and polite. I could never get close enough or he would hiss and take off. But with the cats he was a gentleman. He would wait till everyone was finished eating and slowly make his way to the cat dishes. The years went by. 2011 the garden where they used to sleep and hunt mice and play became off limits. The manager told us he was going to start trapping them. We then only had 4 left but they were our pets. One became so friendly we could pet her. We ended up trapping them and I took them home. Yikes!
Socks lived in my huge closet for over a year. He would come out when I left and as soon as I walked in Id see him run for his closet. He also had some crazy fights with my older male cat. Horrible fights.
One day i was sitting on the floor and I looked over and Socks was sitting within arm reach of me. I froze. I slowly eased my hand toward him, he didnt run but I wanted to. I was convinced he was going to attack me but i kept reaching and i gently touched his head and started petting just his head and he literally started shaking. He didnt run away though. So i kept petting his head and his neck and he started purring. As soon as I stopped he ran into the closet. Over time i would tell him to come here (i had to be on the floor) and he would belly crawl slowly over to me and let me pet him. He eventually would put his 2 front paws on my legs. He purred so loud. It took a good year, but this cat went from crazy feral to having to sleep on top of me, with his head snuggled under my neck every night! It was so amazing. He would stand on his hind legs and want me to pick him up if i was in a chair. I would put him on my lap and he would just purr like an engine. I miss him so much. This cat loved me and lived to love me. In March of 2015, he started limping and dragging his back leg. Getting him to the vet was no easy task. When i did he shook the entire time. I look back and remember the time I first pet him. He was so scared but he stayed. The vet said he had a stroke and also a huge tumor. We went home and I thiught of the stress it would put him through to deal with this tumor, but thought it would be worth it if he could be healthy and live longer. That was not to be. Two days later the tumor burst and I rushed him to the energency and they said there was nothing they could do and he was suffering. I had to say good bye to the best cat ever. I stayed with him and told him how much I loved him and cried so hard. Im grateful he got to be inside and warm and allowed me to love him. Ill never forget him. I think about him everyday. RIP my handsome gentleman. Thank you for letting me love you.
Thank you for trusting me and allowing me to love you
| Socks |
| 16, Apr 2015 |
| Pamela |