Vanessa Cullars with Patches, the Lookout Mountain community's adopted cat
Nobody knows for certain how the little stray cat got to the town center in Lookout Mountain, Tn., and not many know the story of how the little feral cat found a home. His home is not in a house or an apartment with a human, but it’s a home all the same.
Erick Wood, former owner of Talus, began putting a few food scraps and a bowl of fresh water out for the little timid creature. Vanessa Cullars, who worked next door at the former Yessick’s location, began talking gently to the cat regularly. Soon named Patches, the cat kept his distance and scurried away every time a human was in his sight, although he gobbled up his food.
Vanessa was unable to take him home with her, but she is his “person” all the same. Once she was able to get a little closer to the cat, she made sure he had regular vet visits at the Mountain Hospital for Animals. During the winter, the little house that animal lovers Dorenda and Mike McConnell and Casey Craig made was heated, but that changed when Yessick’s closed. However, the Mountain Mirror’s Lucia Hopper stepped up to the plate, offering a spot for the house behind the Mirror’s office with access to an electrical outlet.
Peggy McIntosh also feeds Patches on a regular basis. Both of these sweethearts carefully mix canned cat food in just the right proportion to dry food, and speak in a soft comforting voice as they crouch down and care for the little animal. But Vanessa is only one Patches lets cradle him in their arms as she holds him in the little chair that she placed right next to his house.
Vanessa wrapped the house in insulated material with a protected opening for Patches and set up a heating pad to make sure he was toasty. But that wasn’t enough. She make a little sidewalk for the entrance, set his bedding up off the ground on a wooden crate and hung a quilted star over the doorway. Two pots with greenery adorn the entrance, and the not-so-feral cat loves to loll around in the sun on his warm sidewalk. Vanessa cleans his ears and washes his eyes, and washes him regularly, which is hard to imagine because even the most domesticated cat can hardly stand for that. But most domesticated cats aren’t in the presence of angels.
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Ferris Robinson is the author of three children’s books, “The Queen Who Banished Bugs,” “The Queen Who Accidentally Banished Birds,” and “Call Me Arthropod” in her pollinator series. “Making Arrangements” is her first novel. “Dogs and Love - Stories of Fidelity” is a collection of true tales about man’s best friend. Her website is ferrisrobinson.com and you can download a FREE pollinator poster there. She is the editor of The Lookout Mountain Mirror and The Signal Mountain Mirror.
Ferris Robinson