Sockie Mom is gone. Our feral cat that we have fed for over ten years died last night.

[Chainfire]

She and another feral had kittens under my front steps about ten years ago. It was very odd to us that two females shared the same "nest" and apparently both nursed all of the kittens. We gave all of the kittens but two away and had our own little feral colony for a while. They dropped out, one by one, three from natural causes and one I believe was taken by a Coyote. Old Socks had a good life, she only left our front porch for hunting or going to the bathroom. My wife has always tended to her, she had a heated house and she ate well. She appeared to be healthy and happy up to the end, but we knew it was coming. It was only in the last several months that she started allowing anyone to pet her, and that on a very limited basis. I always referred to her as "that old nasty cat", but I will miss her (but I won't admit it).