Jason the golden cat
Entry posted by markdohle
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Jason the golden cat
When I was a young monk, 23 to be exact, the year being 1973, we had a golden cat here named Jason. I am not much of a cat person, but have always found them beautiful creatures and Jason the cat was definitely that. He was actually more like a dog than a cat. He loved people and would not leave me alone until I picked him up. He even liked to be picked up by his tail and then wrapped over my shoulder…and would just stay there and purr. I never met a cat like him.
Back then, we had a large garden here. We grew all kinds of vegetables, they were all organic. Since I am not a lover of the sun, I can’t say I love farming but working with vegetables and eating them fresh picked allowed my liking of them to grow. Which is helpful here, we eat so many of them. When harvesting, Jason liked to be in my tee shirt and when I bent over to pick the crop, he would stick his head out of my neck line and watch. It was funny, because I had a very large beard then, larger than now and the guest who worked with us would roar over seeing that for the first time.
I am not sure why Jason trusted people so much. I think it has something to do with the day he was picked up from the litter and held by a human. Also being so golden I think he got lots of attention. He was grown when I came so this is only a theory.
I am not sure he thought he was a cat at all. He did not hang out with them, but he also did not fight them. They tended to ignore him as well. The majorities of the cats were feral and lived down by our barn.
Of course Jason has been gone a long time now, about 40 years but I still think of him fondly. His trust allowed me to trust him back and I never got so much as a scratch from him. I was not a favorite by any means. He was that way with everyone, gracing anyone with love and affection who came near him. One day he was just gone. Not sure what happened to him. Back then there were wild dogs still around so perhaps he got caught by one. In the early 70’s we did not yet have coyotes. I was saddened by the loss for sure. Though I am still not a cat person, Jason helped to soften my heart for them somewhat, or a lot if truth be told. Though still would not want one as a pet.
We have some ‘fat cats’ who live in front of our retreat house. Feral cats can be a problem but we have a very kind friend who loves cats. So she came here and started to catch them and got them their shots and spayed them as well. Now they are a little like Jason, they trust most people, but don’t always like to be picked up, for they are still feral. However some have been adopted over the years. Since they trust us, when they are not eating, you can see them; I think we have eight, just lying in the parking lot sleeping, or in the winter, they like to sleep on the hood of the cars. The cats keep the feral cats away.
At one time we were overrun with feral cats, about 50 of them. Then they started to disappear. I found out from a veterinarian that they get distemper as well as feline leukemia and other problems. We think it was the leukemia that killed them off. I wish people would understand that letting their cats go in the wild condemns them to a very short brutish life.
Some people ask me if they can drop off their cats. When I tell them that we don’t take care of animals that are dropped off they seem shocked! Even with some people helping taking care of them, we still have large numbers that are dropped off and I fear that many of them do not live long. Some are house cats and become easy prey for the more aggressive cats who know the terrain. Others no doubt are killed by predators. We have coyotes now and foxes. It is sad the way we discard our animals as if they have no attachment to their human owners.
As I get older I am finding myself affected by the cruelty that humans can so casually rain down on the animals that they have taken responsibility for. I know it is mostly done in ignorance. I blame my friend Marco, who writes about animals rights…..who has taken away much of mine.
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