Sometimes 9 Lives Is Not Enough

It's tough being a ranch kitty.

Growing up on a ranch with cats and kittens running around everywhere is so much fun for a 7 year old animal loving girl...

...until she watches a coyote snatch a 5 week old kitten off of a hay bale, or sees a mama cat laying on the side of the road.

Such is life around here - these cats really do need all of their 9 lives to survive out here. As a young girl, I tried sneaking back plenty of kittens to my parents house. I did successfully bring back one about 12 years ago. Wouldn't ya know, that cat is still alive and has defeated all ranch kitty odds of living outside. Long live Alfalfa. :)

While I am now somewhat used to the high turnover rate of cats around here, Texas just got his first "whiff" of outdoor ranch kitty trials and tribulations.

Wednesday was a rough day for ranch kitties and Texas. Bless his heart.

I got a call from my sister early Wednesday morning to check on a "sleeping" kitty in my mom's driveway by the road. She was afraid my mom's old housecat had resurrected just long enough to get hit by a car. Fortunately and unfortunately, it was not my mom's cat that has been gone for over a year. It happened to be a little bobkitty looking male cat that actually took on Tobe's dog a couple weeks ago out in pasture.

RIP Bobkitty.

Later that morning, Texas had to take the tractor drag out of my arena into one of the corrals. He hooked up the drag, and I held the arena gate open for him, so one of the horses wouldn't escape...

Unfortunately, one of the kitties from an old garage litter of ours had been taking a catnap underneath the drag... and I'll just leave it at that.

RIP gray kitty.

When there are so many cats around with heavy machinery and the country road with cars traveling up to 70 mph, we frequently lose ranch kitties. It's a way of life around here, sadly.

This is why my Colorado Rockies kitty has turned into an indoor bug eating machine.

She is much safer inside. She'll likely die of obesity or boredom rather than becoming coyote bait. Or roadkill.