Filled With Loving Kindness: The Love Story of Twink & Spike: A Valentine for All Ages

This is the love story of Twink and Spike --

Last summer we trapped, neutered, and released many cats. Spike, and his brother Archie were two of our favorite black n whites. When they came back to us, they were less trusting, as you can imagine. Spike would visit now and then, but Archie never came back and we feared that something dire had happened to him. Some months passed, and a new little creature appeared at our back door. It was a rather pitiful little gray cat, rather demure in nature, and little white paws. Peg called her Twinkle Toes. She did not seem feral but rather abandoned. (Spike and Archie were from a feral mother.)

We managed to trap Twink (I shortened her name) and she was neutered and released again to us. The weather was warm and she would sleep in my rocker chair on the back porch. Eventually Spike wandered back and seemed to take a shine to Twink. And Twink, I think… was quite enamored with Spike. At one point we think she either followed him, or he took her over to meet the neighborhood colony on Seneca Parkway. There’s a hole in the fence out back where they have a sure path that connects our house with the one out back.

I was glad when Twink decided to stick to our back porch as I didn’t want her learning the “street-ways” of the tougher ferals. We made a shelter as winter was approaching and put it under the deck. We also bought a heated “cat tent” for the back porch that seemed just her size. As the weather got colder other critters came to the back porch to finish the food in her dishes – a raccoon the size of a small dog, a little possum, and one or two stray ferals from outside the colony.

Twink would crawl into her tent house protected from the wild life and weather outside. As time passed, one or two of the stranger ferals tried to take over Twink’s space. But
Spike came to her rescue. He would sit on the deck when she was eating supper
and watch for the others – kept them away. He was seen sitting on top of her
tent shelter keeping others out.