A Tribute to a Classy Barn Cat

Last week we said good-bye to a bit of an icon around here. At least she was an icon for the past 12 years or so. A long life for a barn cat, really.

Sphinx showed up in 2012, as I recall. I don't know where she came from, but she was friendly. And pregnant. In hindsight, I had to wonder if that is the reason she showed up here. Maybe her reproductive tendencies had become apparent at her previous residence. Because she was a fertile cat, that's for sure. She had two litters of kittens the first year. Maybe the second year too, but I can't remember if we waited long enough to allow for a second litter that year. Because you see, Sphinx had litters of 8-10 kittens at a time. If you do the math, that makes for an unsustainable barn cat population in very short order! So she made a trip to the vet and we nipped that rate of reproduction in the bud.

I often wondered if she was someone's house cat (or part time house cat), because she really wanted to come inside at times. In fact, when she was in labor with one of those litters of kittens, she was at the back door begging for someone to help her in her misery. I don't remember how it all went down. I must have taken pity on her, because she ended up in the house trying to make a nest in grandma's laundry basket of dirty clothes. So we made up her own personal laundry basket with an old towel in the bathroom instead. As you can see, she acquiesced.

You may be wondering how she got her name. Well, when she would lay down sometimes she appeared to be posing very much like the Sphinx of Egypt, with paws straight out in front of her. Sphinx, sometimes affectionately referred to as Sphinxy, was christened. And she absolutely knew her name, at least for the last several years.

Those first couple years she had two personalities. One was when she had kittens and the other when she did not. It's been long enough I don't remember for sure, but I think it was when she did have kittens she was raising that she turned meaner than a snake to all the other cats. Heaven help them if they got too close to her at the cat food bowl! Once the kittens were weaned, it was live and let live towards everybody else. Although the palpably venomous interactions diminished, she still wore a look on her face at times that made you wonder if she was plotting your demise. But it was probably more along the lines of trying to figure out a way to get someone to give her a treat of some sort. Because she really was quite affectionate. Even when kids would come to the farm, Sphinx would allow herself to be held and petted.

The last few years that grandma was still with us, she had several women who worked as her caregivers. One lady who worked evenings had left her van window down partway during her shift. She headed home after dark that night and was driving along when she suddenly felt something rub against her leg! She went into freak-out mode, later counting it a blessing she didn't wreck or at the very least pee her pants. She discovered the leg-rubbing culprit was none other than Sphinx, who had taken advantage of the open window and been curled up for who knows how long that evening in the van. Sphinx got dropped back off at home in short order that night!

It wasn't uncommon for Sphinx to follow us to the pastures around the house when we took care of cows or chickens. Doug half-jokingly referred to her as our other border collie, haha! I kid you not, she would usually stop and look both ways (and listen) when we crossed the road.

She also developed a habit of sitting on the step at the back side of the house at the sliding glass door. From there she could watch the goings-on in the most important room of the house--the kitchen. And if you looked her way, or started walking towards the door she would raise up on hind legs, pawing at the door and at the ready for any potential morsel that might be coming her way. She was a whiz with making the most of every opportunity. If she knew you were going into the house, she would dash from the front side to the back at that sliding glass door in seconds! Before Doug and I got married and eventually added a full porch to grandma's house, she had figured out a way to hop up on the outside window sill (see first picture, above) from the railing around the front door stoop. Maybe she wanted food. Or maybe she just wanted to be where the people were. Either way, she achieved a rather grouchy look for the camera on this particular day!

She became quite the avid hunter too. She didn't sit around waiting for us to bring her every meal. Mice, birds...even rabbits. I watched her narrowly miss getting a rabbit running across the concrete barnlot one time. That was a lucky rabbit, because it was a close call. Last year we discovered a nest of baby rabbits in our landscaping. We managed to keep the dogs away from them, but eventually Sphinx discovered them. And sadly for the rabbit, she was plenty fast enough this time. It's not a pleasant picture, but it's life, you know? And these are somehow the only three photos I could find of a cat who deserves some recognition.

Last month I noticed she started having a bit of trouble with her legs and balance. Whatever was going on seemed to gradually be getting progressively worse. She was eventually struggling enough with getting around that we brought her inside during the really cold spell. She seemed fairly content in her crate with some TLC. I wrestled with whether to put her down, but she didn't seem to be in great distress so I held off.

When it warmed back up I took her back to the barn. That evening before bed I went to check on her, and couldn't find her. It was so foggy that night but I looked in all the places I knew to look...even called her name a few times but didn't see a trace. I didn't see her the next day, either. I was a bit mystified as to what happened, but thought it must have been her time to go and maybe she just took herself off somewhere. I still didn't see her the next morning either, and when I saw dad I told him about her disappearance. His response was that he thought he had just seen and petted her that morning! Well color me shocked...sure enough, she was back in her square bale "hay cave" I had previously made for her! Still don't know where she had been when I couldn't find her.

It was obvious she wasn't going to get better, though. Even with her limited mobility, she would still pull herself short distances, and a couple times I found her right behind where we parked the Ranger. In the tire track. Couldn't help but wonder if she was plotting to hurry things along. As she continued to fail a bit more those last couple days, I decided I should take her to the vet the next morning if she was still with us. I'd so rather an animal die of natural causes (if they're not suffering too much) than to have to put them down! I got up the next morning and went out to check on her. Before I even got to the shed where I had left her in the hay cave, I was relieved to discover Jesus had answered my prayer. She had pulled herself just outside the barn this time--still behind the Ranger--and passed away sometime in the night.

It'll be a little different without her around here, and a little sad not seeing her watching us through the sliding door anymore. From stray cat to farm fixture, she made an impression and graced us with quite a personality for many years. We like to think when she went, she headed straightaway to grandma's sliding glass door at her mansion in heaven...and there I'm sure the door is always opened for her.