Shanon’s black cat, “Shadow”, is her mobile park’s security guard. He purr-oudly pat-rols it paw-tecting pets and dispatching rats. He is rewarded for his diligence with grooming and kibbles by nearly everyone!
The young feral cat was surviving off the land, so Shanon’s mother began
feeding him. Then to prevent him from fathering kittens, Shanon had him neutered. After that things changed.
"He felt we owed him for our transgressions," laughs Shanon. "He took up residence on our deck and when the weather turned cold he invited himself into our home. Our elderly cats, Desi and Lucy, accepted Shadow with no hissing or fighting. We thought fur-sure he was our third inside cat, until the Spring when he slipped outside to resume patrolling,
returning to us at night."
Wisely, the cat had used the winter to rebuild his health. But now, there was one major problem. Shadow was a shadow and was constantly catching birds.
"Songbirds have a unique eye anatomy allowing them to see bright colors," said Shanon. "So, I purr-chased an eye catching, break-a-way, anti-birding collar. It's saved many feathery lives and yet it doesn't stop him from catching rodents.
www.birdsbesafe.com
Cats wearing bells alert coyotes. This fancy-clown collar keeps a cat’s whereabouts quiet, while indicating a feline's presence to birds better than sound.
Shadow befriends neighbors with cat doors inviting himself in for a meal, brushing, a visit with their kitty and a
sleep-over.
Twice a day, he joins Shanon and her Chihuahua, Ben, for a 4,000 step (16,000 in cat steps) walk. Their buddies Bonnie and her Chorkie, Inka, accompany them.
Shadow’s sense of humor has him dash ahead of everyone, hide, and then mischievously jump out startling them. He once shockingly dropped out of a tree in front of Shanon like Spiderman! He’ll sprint down the street and through the unsuspecting group. Often, he'll
dramatically flop in the middle of the road as if he's bored waiting for the slow pokes to cat-ch up. Thankfully the jet-black cat’s collar is trimmed with reflective piping, otherwise at night he'd be bowling them over.
Roxy is his current feline girlfriend. He loved her predecessor, Bella. When she passed, her pet parent adopted Roxy so he transferred his purr-tective roll onto the rescued kitten.
“A neighbor was worried when her
indoor cat snuck outside because of the coyotes’,” said Shanon. “She tried to catch her pet, to no avail. Then she saw Shadow walk over to the difficult-to-reach cat. She felt that if Shadow was on the job, her cat would be safe because she knew he had saved a cat from a raccoon. He stayed with her cat all night and in the morning, the escapee marched home for breakfast.”
This special cat had a bewildering encounter with a man setting up at the community hall for
his mother’s funeral. He asked, “Who is the cat with the funny collar?” Apparently, as he was putting out chairs, he couldn’t decide to hold the service inside or outside. The decision was finalized when, “That cat convinced me to have the celebration indoors which made everyone laugh.”
“One day, I was riding my bike and asked Shadow if he wanted a ride,” said Shanon. “He meowed ‘Yes’, so I harnessed him in the basket for safety. He loved the ride as much as my dog, Ben,
and Mary Ellen ‘Angel Scribe’s’ cats do in their bike basket.
This special cat is brave and trusting on so many levels! Last spring, "our" community cat had a severely injured paw and was forced to stay inside to heal. The veterinarian remarked, 'It is rare, based on his injury, to have a cat be patient with no anesthetic.'
I have learned that not only are people prejudiced against people, they are prejudiced against black cats. More cats are
born black than any other color, so it is a problem finding them homes. They also don’t photograph well for shelter websites. The Japanese, Latvian, and Scottish cultures have it right believing that black cats bring a home good luck and love!” Adopt and enjoy love and luck.
