Three Christmases ago my now husband Andy and I (and our three dogs) moved into a new house. Since then I’ve quit shelter work to ‘officially’ work on PetRescue, Andy and I have got married, gotten pregnant and had our first baby. Lots of exciting change.
And while all that has been happening, we’ve enjoyed the company of one extra family member… Secret Cat.
Secret Cat – her full name ‘Secret Cat Who Lives Under The Stairs’ – came free with our house. She lived here before us and was welcome to stay as long as she wanted. I had her desexed when we moved in. She wasn’t feral, but she wasn’t really human-tame either. She was straddling the divide between wild animal and pet.
I’ve no doubt her life became easier once we moved in. She took up residence under the front stairs through the summer, then moved into a dog house we put out for her when the weather turned. Over time she went from being untouchable, to a strokeable, meowing scratch-seeker. I could flea dot her without drama. And she bit us less.
When our suburb recently became overrun with rats (due to their being a lot of fruit and chicken runs in our area), the areas where Secret Cat was able to access were unsurprisingly rat free. The other areas (where the dogs were) became party-fricken-central for a enormous rat frat house. We were forced to clear everything out of the backyard which could support them (including a wood pile and compost bin) and hope beyond hope that when the neighbours started throwing poison around, that no staggering rats made it in to poison the dogs too*.
She became the inspiration for her very own PetRescue awareness campaign; ‘The Secret Cat Society’ when we started to learn more about the lives of these ‘semi-owned’ Community Cats. Turns out a LOT of people have a secret cat…
Today Secret Cat looked incredibly unwell. Dehydrated and drawn. She had been moping around for the last week and a bit off her food, but I had just chalked it up to her sulking about the wet weather. I called the mobile vet out as it was less stressful than a car ride… and be gave me the bad news.
Secret Cat’s liver had failed. She was jaundiced and most likely beyond treatment.
I bundled her into a cat carrier (the fact I could spoke volumes about how she was feeling) and drove her to my local vet. They confirmed the worst. Secret Cat had liver failure. They advised we put her to sleep.
I didn’t realise how much Secret Cat had grown to be part of our family. Cheekily greeting us from the balcony. Training us to only buy the fishy Whiskas varieties (who knew a street cat would be so discerning about food!). Helping us discover the joy of being the caretaker of a Community Cat.
Today, we lost not a pet, but a family member. We loved you and will miss you Secret Cat.
That is such a shock! It almost parallels our own story of Old Tiger. He was so scared and timid that we didn’t even try to get near him until last year when we decided to trap and desex him. He was the Alpha male though with the other cats. We had him FIV tested and he turned out to be positive, not a shock, so we decided to keep him in his own run until we could work out something really spiffy for him. He enjoyed room service, great appetite, then a little bout of catflu a few weeks back, some antibiotics but still something not right. Took him to the vet but two days later, very dehydrated and ill we had him pts. On the last day of his life, he enjoyed a chin scratch and some pats and came back to sleep forever under his fave bush. I’m so sorry to hear this. Secret cats should live forever, Shel.
So sorry to hear your sad news, I have followed your reports on Secret Cat, thank God it was your family who moved into this home to keep an eye on this moggie and she was able to go to Rainbow Bridge with dignity knowing she was loved.
Every time we “discover” a new colony, I think of Secret Cat and how your kindness meant that perhaps for the first time in her life, she had a human friend, one she could trust and rely on. I’m sorry to hear Secret Cat has gone. She will live on in your memories (and your supporters) as one fortunate little girl who thanks to you, raised awareness of the many secret cats out there, none quite as special though as your beloved Secret Cat. Shel, you are my inspiration. At the end of the day, you were loved, RIP Secret Cat.
Thank for looking after a cat many would have discarded or killed
RIP Secret Cat
What a beautiful girl. You can tell from the photos that she was intelligent, alert, kind, and a little bit mischievous. I’m so sorry for your loss.
Feral cats can be socialized – it just takes love and patience, which you and your family clearly have in abundance.
I am so sorry for your loss. Any family member that is loved, and leaves us as suddenly as Secret Cat has done, makes their presence felt strongly, and therefore there loss just as strongly for some time.
Like many others who have read this post before me (or any of your other posts for that matter), I am grateful to you that she had you, and your family to call her hers. There will be a gap there, where Secret Cat once sat, meowed, and did her stare-bear thing at you. But just as she became yours, and you had her in your life for as long as you did (too short now), you will always have those memories of her for ever in your heart, and no-one can ever take her from you again. Her memories will remain safe within you for ever.
RIP Secret Cat, and may your homecoming on the rainbow bridge be as bright as bright.
So sorry to hear about your loss. I don’t think most people appreciate the usefulness of cats as rodent deterrers rather than rodent killers.
Sorry to hear your news Shel. That’s very sad.
I am so very sorry to hear of your loss. My thoughts and love are with you and your family.
RIP Secret Cat enjoy the rainbow bridge xxxx