As it turned out Natti had severe brain damage from an injury to his head. As a young cat he
was kind of ok but as he got older, he became less tolerant of people and would actually attack anyone who came to our door.
He got "cat therapy" and cat medication, but continued to decline mentally.
When he was 6 years old, Natti could no longer function safely in the world. I held him in my
arms while he was put to sleep.He died on August 16th, 2003. He is buried out by my horse barn where I can see him and
be close to him everyday. But that is not the whole story.
A few weeks earlier I had heard about a farm place that had become over-run with cats. The owners
were destroying all the cats they could catch. Needless to say, I was horrified. I called and asked if I could come down with
my "have a heart pet trap" and try and save a few of the cats or kittens.
All that was left were 4 hapless, skinny, starving little waifs who had no idea what good a human
being could be! I put them in a kennel for several weeks until they kind of learned to accept me as being "safe." Over time,
each kitten became socialized to being handled by humans and finally, learned to trust.
Among the group of kittens was a funny little guy who was so bold and had a personality that
just wouldn't quit! He was in to everything and took many bold chances with visiting relatives dogs, and he LOVED to play
with my nephews for hours on end.
