Wow..It's been 4 years...

My daughter just started a blog, and while trying to locate it, I came upon my own blog.. Funny..I had forgotten about it.. I think it's more for me than anyone else.. It's like a dairy of sorts. A way to look back and remember little things I'd forgotten. 

In reading my last blog, I was reminded of the best birthday present I've ever received. Our cat, Rascal, had been with us just one day when I wrote a blog about him. Now, four years later, he is the most entertaining cat I've ever met.. He's a nut wrapped in long fur. 

His born in the wild side is still there, much to our dismay at times.. He's a hunter by nature and goes out every day to hunt.. It breaks our hearts when he catches a bird or another little animal we wish he'd just leave alone.. 

He is, however, the best mouser on the planet, which makes my husband very happy.. I have torn feelings about it. Mice are so stinking cute, but at the same time, eeeekkkkk... 

We used to get a mouse in the house from time to time, living out in the boonies with woods all around us. But not anymore.. If one foolishly finds it's way in, it's the last thing he does.. Rascal doesn't rest till he's captured it.. 

Other than his relentless need to hunt, he is just hillarious. He's got more energy than he knows what to do with. He jumps, plays, lays on his back with all four legs up in the air and cuddles at the most unexpected times.. 

We thought he was very healthy when he was found, but soon realized that he had an allergy to milk, and was actually skin and bones under all that fur.. He was also the biggest gas ball on the planet and could clear a room within seconds.. 

We had to try food and food on him until we finally found food he can digest. He eats Blue Buffalo dry cat food, along with Pet Guard canned food.. The combination keep him healthy, and gas free. lol... 

He is a huge, beautiful cat, long haired with black, brown and cream coloring.. He has a mane like a lion and beautiful green eyes.. He's our baby and obviously likes holding that position in the household.. 

He doesn't really like people, though, or rather, is afraid of people.. He's been on a number of vacations with us, and rides in automobiles like a trooper.. But when we stay at family homes, he hides under beds to avoid contact with anyone else.. This past year he allowed my daughter, grandaughters and grandsons to pet him, though.. He also seems to like my oldest son when he comes to visit.. Guess he's finally coming out of his shell. 

He hears the UPS driver coming a mile away, though, and runs to hide before he ever pulls in the driveway. 

After finding him, the other kittens in Cali's litter started making an appearance, although, none of them would let us touch them or get very near them.. We started feeding them, and eventually, Cali left with one of the kittens, leaving 3 males behind.. Cali never came back. 

The three left would come to the porch to eat and drink warm milk when I called them, but wouldn't let us touch them.. We named them Ziggy, BooBoo and Dusty.. Ziggy and BooBoo never left our yard, but Dusty was a wanderer and would leave for hours at a time. As he got older, he would leave for days at a time, eventually, never to come back. 

But we worked on Ziggy and BooBoo for a couple of years, and finally, one touch at a time, they learned to trust us, and within weeks of letting us pet them for the first time, they were our constant companions whenever we were in the yard. Ziggy started coming inside occassionally, and worrying about him "marking" things, we took him to be fixed. After that, he came inside every evening to sleep, but went out first thing in the morning for the day.. Although he always stayed in the yard, he just didn't want to be inside.. He would come in for a few minutes or just to get a snack, but for the most part, wanted to be outside all day. 

At night he slept as close to my leg as he could possibly get. First he would nead the blankets just right, then plop down to sleep.. He was so sweet and loving.. Rascal would try to play really rough with him, but Ziggy just looked shocked, like he didnt' understand such roughness.. He was born in the wild, but he was just the sweetest natured cat ever. 

We had wild turkeys that came to the yard daily to be fed and Ziggy would follow one of them around in the yard.. He never tried to hurt it, he just seemed fond of this one in particular. Always made me laugh. 

Ziggy's routine was to come in at dinner time for the night.. One evening in the fall, I was fixing dinner, went out to all Ziggy, but he didn't want to come in.. He was watching something in the tree, something I could not see, and was mobilized.. I had something on the stove, so went back inside to finish what I was doing.. When I went back out to get him, he was gone, and I've never seen him since. 

I miss him terribly, but feel blessed to have this ferrel cat trust me, and my husband, so much that he became our little buddy.. I don't know what happened to him, but I do know in his 2 1/2 years, he never left our yard... I had a dream about a week before his dissapearance that a woman in a silver blue car with white hair had hit him, killing him.. I woke up feeling sad and depressed, and remembered the dream clearly.. Then he dissapeared.. We looked everywhere for him, went to the animal shelter looking for him,  went through all the woods around us looking for him, but I knew.... I knew Ziggy was gone and wasn't coming back.. I don't know why, and I don't know how, but I know that Ziggy is on the other side... I still miss him..