Carolyn Jones is not certain how old Mama Cat is, but she knows she used at least three of her nine lives before she moved into the luxury quarters she enjoys today.
Mama Cat’s story with bumps in the road began in February of 2007 at Devils Lake in Michigan, where Carolyn spent summers at her cottage. When she saw a mother cat and four tiny kittens living precariously under a pile of docks next door, Carolyn went into action to feed them. When a second litter arrived that same summer, she gave them similar attention.
Carolyn’s personal interest in the cat that she appropriately named Mama Cat has continued for 15 years through some fur-raising traumas to a happy ending.
One of Mama Cat’s narrow escapes was when she failed to answer Carolyn’s “kitty kitty” call. Carolyn always called her before leaving the cottage to go to work at Adrian College and when she returned in the evening.
The first day there was no response. The second day, no response. Even though the frustration continued for 10 days when the temperature was 100 degrees, Carolyn never gave up calling for the missing cat.
On the 11th day, she heard a faint meow. She followed the cry to a neighbor’s garage, peeked in the window, and saw the missing cat.
“But,” Carolyn said, continuing the story, “the garage was padlocked, and I lived 50 miles away.”
Another neighbor opened the garage with a hacksaw, and Mama Cat was freed and very hungry.
An electric feeder with a timer was one of Carolyn’s investments to make sure Mother Cat and her friends would have food when she wasn’t there. She installed it on the garage at the lake and kept track of the timer schedule. When she sold the cottage, the new owner agreed to keep the feeder filled.
Carolyn’s friend, Joel Weinberg, is also a cat person. During the winter Joel often drove from Toledo to shovel a path in the snow for the cats.
Carolyn has always been tender hearted when it comes to animals, especially cats. But her concern for the feral population peaked with her experience with Mama Cat and the kittens. She bought a live trap and within a year caught more than 25 cats at the lake and in her Toledo neighborhood. She had them spayed and neutered at Humane Ohio.
Having a live trap came in handy to save Mama Cat in another traumatic adventure. When the Devils Lake neighbors banded together to fight the feral cat issue, they filed a lawsuit with Rollin Township after hearing the township had ordered a sweep to eliminate the cats.
When Carolyn heard the news, she drove immediately to the lake, trapped Mama Cat, and took her home to her condominium.
Carolyn’s tender heart for the comfort and safety of Mama Cat is unlimited. She first lived happily in a dog pen. Soon a second pen was connected to give her twice the room.
Little did Mama Cat dream that the best was yet to come when Carolyn moved into her new home at Waterside.
There was plenty of room in the insulated garage for a two-story cathouse. A portable heater ensures Mama Cat is warm, but she enjoys the heating pad she sleeps on even more. Carolyn says the heating pad has been on since October, and she knows it adds to the electric bill, but she doesn’t care.
Garage furnishings include a tall cat tree placed ideally by the windows for lounging in the sunshine.
To say Mama Cat is overjoyed that Carolyn spotted her and the kittens under a dock is an understatement. She has taken well to her comfy lifestyle including her food preferences. At the lake she would eat about anything, but now she prefers the $2-a-can food plus daily treats.
She has full run of the garage and never tries to escape when the door is open and Carolyn drives the car out into the driveway.
Despite all of the comforts, Mama Cat could use some lessons in manners. She still hisses at Carolyn and refuses to be petted.
I want to think those are her ways to say, “Thank you, I love you, Mama Carolyn.”
Mary Alice Powell is a retired Blade food editor. Contact her at poseypowell@aol.com.
First Published May 8, 2022, 10:00 a.m.