Missing Marvin

While our road trip was great, there was one part that was heart-wrenching. Three days before we got home, Marvin, our big, handsome, loved everyone tabby was killed. Our wonderful pet sitter found his body and she and her husband buried him. (Upon reviewing our Ring footage, he was killed by a dog that came into our yard and up onto our deck.) Kenn and I are both devastated.

Marvin, my big ole handsome boy.

I told Kenn that when we got home, Marvin’s sister Nellie was moving inside and that was it for taking care of outside cats/strays. My heart just can’t take it. Kenn is usually the first to gripe about the number of cats in our lives. So, I was greatly surprised when he said that he thought keeping a food dish out for any animals in need was a good thing. I’ve always thought so too, but losing Stumpie and Marvin in a matter of months kind of broke me.

However, it looks like Kenn will get his way.. Our attempts to move Nellie inside have resulted in wounds and bruises for Kenn and I and she is still outside. In addition, our elderly neighbor’s cats are now coming to us for food. In essence, we seem to have lost two outdoor cats and gained three more. Sigh. I guess someday my heart will heal enough to welcome them.

17 thoughts on “Missing Marvin”

  1. I am so sorry. Losing any pet is hard, but losing one while you are away and to any kind of violence makes it worse. Many hugs to you and Kenn. Maybe you can create an outdoor cat house/ fortress for these newcomers this winter?

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    • Our cats (Marvin, Nellie, and Stumpie) have always slept in the rafters of our carport. We’ve got beds and even a heating pad up there for them. I guess the others are still sleeping at “their” house but I’m going to keep an eye on them. We always fill a couple of the plastic dog houses with straw and insulation for whoever needs it too.

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  4. Linda, my deepest sympathy is shared with you and Kenn. It is so hard when something like this happens. I console myself with the belief that their lives were better for having food and shelter and that without it, they would have been worse off, but it does not change the grief when we lose one of them.

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  5. Sorry to read about Marvin. My friend lives in New York and her backyard is on the fringe of a wooded area. She has sheltered and fed and given water to feral cats for many years and for every cat she loses, it has always been as if they are her own indoor cats.

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      • Yes, my friend gets them cremated and mourns her feral cats just like her own. She lost her last remaining cat this year at about 15 years old, but she had three up until a year or so ago. She has a whole contingent of ferals and says “someone ought to fix Mama cat as she brings each new litter to live here.” She’s got shelter houses she had built and puts them on her back deck in October through April and fills them with straw and battery-operated heating pads and battery-operated warming dishes for their food and water.

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      • I like that idea Linda – the family that stays together forever. I have my two canaries’ ashes. Yes Carol is a kindred spirit – like you she treats the ferals as special as any of her beloved pets.

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