Blackberry (Blackie)

BlackBerry is my fourth cat.  Each one found me in a special way.   I first saw her roaming around outside our home in St. Paul over fifteen years ago.  She was a young, thin wild cat that lived in the back woods somewhere and I started feeding her and another feral cat.   She would come to the feeder when it was below zero and snow piled high.  I don’t know if she belonged to a anyone in the area, but my neighbor said that one day that black kitty will be tamed.  I said , “no she’s too wild.”  Sometime later, I saw her climbing the hill out back headed for an abandoned shed of some sort.  My heart went out to her.  Then one day as she ate from the feeder, she let me touch her little ear.   After that I didn’t see her for over a month and was worried something happened to her.  When I  saw her again at the feeder she had milk leaking from her   She must have been taking care of a kitten…I was relieved and knew then I had to take care of her.

The next thing I knew, we came home one evening and our dogs didn’t greet us at the door.  That was strange.  We found them with tails wagging trying to look under the bed.  Black Kitty must have snuck inside when we weren’t looking and made her way downstairs to safety under the bed!!  From then on, she was mine.  She also  became my dear father’s cat and lived with him for about the first  two years. I had originally named her Alexis, but dad called her “Blackie”.  I had been looking for a suitable pet for him and Blackie also became his and he just loved her!

Blackie was a very healthy kitty, only needed two teeth pulled and I had her spayed.  I miss her nightly kisses in bed and her little routines.  She ate food from a china Beatrix Potter bowl that my previous cats shared before her.  She would jump off the bed at 6 a.m. when she heard her dry food served from an automatic feeder.

I believe she is back with my dear father, as he passed in 2020.  This is a bond forever lasting and will connect us for eternity.

Lisa Kreter (Blackie s mom)