Month: February 2021

Often on my rambles I’ll notice something or an idea will pop into my head, and I’ll start thinking of how to write about it. This hasn’t happened much lately; it seems as though–except for the weather–nothing has changed much. I guess that’s how winter goes.

The weather changes, of course, sometimes even on the same day, and one never knows what to expect. You can see in the video below that we’ve had snow again; you can’t see the rain (because I usually don’t walk when it’s raining!), but you can see how the river rises and changes colors.

It was starting to snow as I finished my last post (before Noel’s Story; I hope to update you on that soon.). Here are some deer photos from the next day and from the two snows since. I don’t remember having as many snowy days in the ten years I’ve lived in this little hollow as we’ve had this winter.

The route I usually walk ends with me getting my newspaper and mail as I head up the hill to the house. Sometimes I cross the little ravine where I’ve set up a trail camera that I recently took down. I thought you might get a chuckle seeing how the camera caught my fashion sense. 🙂

I continue my rambles and photos, but I can’t think of anything else to write today. Maybe next time.

I still wonder where he came from and how he found his way into our little mountain hollow. That would be Chapter One of Noel’s Story and will always be a mystery. All I know is that one afternoon in early December I noticed the deer in the meadow stomping and snorting. When I looked to see what was disturbing them, I saw a black cat heading up the hill into the woods. Later that day, a neighbor caught sight of the cat crossing the road and checked to make sure one of mine hadn’t escaped outside. This is how Chapter Two of Noel’s Story begins.

I walk almost daily on the gravel roads in our rural “neighborhood,” a handful of houses on about 70 acres of woods and meadows. On my walk the next day, I saw the little cat hunting in the weeds. When I spoke, it didn’t run off, as feral stray cats usually do; instead it looked at me as if to say, “Bug off! Can’t you see I’m hunting?” I noticed that it had a nasal discharge and that one of its eyes was opaque.

The next day the cat was hunting beside the road again, and I knew I had to do something. There’s not much for a little half-blind cat to eat in winter, and it’s not safe, either; the little cat could easily become prey for a coyote, fox, or bobcat. So I sat down on the road to talk to it. It wouldn’t come close, but as it walked away, I told the little cat that I’d take care of it if it came to my house. I knew I couldn’t let it suffer.

The cat made the rounds of the neighborhood, especially houses with birdfeeders, and soon it began hanging out around my house. I couldn’t get close enough to tell if it was a male or female, but since it was near Christmas, I called the little cat Noël .

I began feeding Noël whenever I saw her/him, and s/he would hiss, but not run, when I got close. After a few days, s/he would come to eat when I called. And I noticed what seemed to be an extra toe on each front foot.

I fixed a shelter box under the side porch, which stays dry and is high enough that I can easily crawl underneath. The timing worked out well; as Christmas approached, so did a snowstorm and temperatures in the low 20s. I insulated the shelter box with more boxes, a small plastic greenhouse cover, and all the bubble wrap and packing pillows I could find. (This was the holiday during the pandemic, so we had received lots of packages!) I was relieved to see that Noël seemed content to be in the shelter.

After the snow melted, I began feeding Noël on the front porch, where I sat on a chair near the food bowl. S/he was not hissing at me so much and was getting more comfortable daily. I put a cat carrier under the chair and began moving the food bowl closer to the carrier. One day at lunch I put the bowl inside the carrier; s/he went in, and I shut the door. Poor Noël! There was such a commotion that I wondered if the carrier would explode!

I had already explained the situation to the vet and was able to take Noël straight to their office. Later that day I learned that Noël (now Noel) was an intact male about six to eight months old, that he wasn’t chipped, and that he tested negative for the fatal diseases often found in strays. The eye problem was due to an old trauma, and he may never have full sight in his bad eye. And he didn’t have an extra toe, but the dewclaws on his front feet are three times the normal length!

Now what? I had prepared myself to have him euthanized if he had a fatal disease, and now I had to decide if I was going to keep him or to surrender him to a no-kill shelter.

It didn’t take long to decide, and I told the vet to vaccinate and neuter him—Noel would be joining my other three cats. Before he could live in the house, however, he had to get healthy and learn to trust me. In the meantime, he’d live comfortably in a giant Mastiff-sized dog crate in the insulated daylight basement where my plants over-winter.

Noel became more comfortable with each passing day and quit hissing at me (at least most of the time). He ate well and let me pet him while he was eating. He began to purr and rub against my hand.

However, his nasal discharge continued, and test results showed that Noel has the feline herpes virus. Herpes is treatable but not curable—we could have dealt with that —and it’s also very contagious. It was heart-breaking news. Regardless of how fond I’d become of Noel, I knew I couldn’t risk exposing my other cats, especially the elderly one, who has health issues of her own.

It was a tremendous relief to talk to someone at the Asheville Humane Society and learn that they would accept him and help him find a home. Since there wouldn’t be space for a few weeks, it gave Noel more time to learn to be a pet. AND HE HAS! He’s still frightened sometimes and occasionally half-heartedly swats at my hand, but he also rolls over to get his chin rubbed and lets me pick him up and put him on my lap. He’s definitely a sweetheart.

And that’s Chapter Two of Noel’s Story. Like Chapter One, the remaining chapters will be unknown to me. But he’s a lucky cat, and I know that Noel’s Story will have the happy ending he deserves.

UPDATE TODAY: The wonderful people at the shelter treated him, and HE’S AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION! Here’s the link and photos! I hope this lucky boy finds a forever home soon!

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