Day by day, Minnie has begun returning to her life, this morning she was reunited with her hens – she loves to hang out with chickens – and sat on the porch with them in the morning sun. She has several good hiding places now – one in the woodshed, one in the barn, one underneath Maria’s studio barn, she is rebuilding her life,  and she is standing more confidently upright, moving more quickly, returning to her life as a barn cat, as we hoped she would. We are still bringing her inside at night, but she is increasingly reluctant to leave her other world. Seeing her with the chickens was heartening, a big step.

Her instincts for her life are returning, she is gaining confidence, seemingly in no pain, feeling a bit less vulnerable every day. My wish is her for to return to her life – I known many happy three-legged barn cats here – and I think this is beginning to happen.We’ll see. I see that  cats are very smart, very good at figuring things out, protecting themselves – at least some of them. The farmers always say the smart cats live a long time, the foolish ones do not last long.