Starlight is gone....

"Mama Cat" as Joel always called her, has gone missing. She was our family's first real pet. We couldn't have asked for a sweeter, quieter, more well-mannered cat. (A well-mannered cat in my opinion, is one that doesn't ever climb screens, or claw little kids, or wake you up at night.) Starlight would trot faithfully behind Heidi and Reagan as they explored the hillsides around here or lay in the raspberry beds among the mint plants to keep me company while I weeded. She would let Heidi tote her around in the most awkward position- feet straight up in the air, without protest. But besides all that wonderfullness, Starlight was beautiful. Look at those blue eyes.
She had 3 baby kittens, not quite 2 weeks old, who were waiting in the window well for her return. But it's been 2 days now. I cried last night realizing how much I will miss her and wondering if we'll ever have a cat as perfect as her again. I also worried what would happen to her babies because they were not responding well to bottle feeding. Heather, a friend of mine, has a cat that is a first time mother to six kittens. Lani brought my 3 hungry mewing kittens over to Heather's today and they put them all together while the mama cat wasn't looking. She accepted them!! I am so happy! Starving kittens, on top of the loss of our favorite cat ever, was not a pleasant picture. Thanks Heather, for being willing to let your cat mother 9 kittens! Your mama cat's a real "woman". :-)