In Memory of Catness 11/10/2014 – 9/24/2025
So many of our Shadow Cats are found as community cats. We earned our name seeking out the cats that live in the shadows. Even still, Catness’s story started a little differently than the rest, in 2013. Like most of us, she was born at a hospital…just, you know, on the outside rather than in a delivery room! She had two beautiful sisters, Beauty & Snarky, both aptly named. They lost their mother in unknown circumstances, but we can only guess with the unpredictable lifestyle that comes with living on the streets.
And so, their feral lives began.
Catness was the bravest of her sisters. In addition to being the first to be found, she was also the first to come bounding out of her brushy home when the tin cans of cat food opened. A Shadow Cats volunteer cared for the colony over the years, watching over the sisters as they grew, including our bright orange Catness as she trotted through the grass. They lived a peaceful, comfortable life. While Catness was always eager to eat, she was still hesitant about touch from humans…but over the course of a few years, she allowed her caretaker to pet her head.
In 2020, the home they knew and loved for so long was no longer safe for them. We know all too well that not everyone looks upon community cats with kindness. The decision was made to relocate all three sisters to Shadow Cats. In January of that same year, they made the move. The three sisters were moved into Wild Side, where they could live life on their terms, loved from afar if that is what they chose.
To the collective shock of everyone, though, the sisters began to slowly inch their way toward interacting with people. Beauty was the first to make big enough strides that we decided she belonged in Oasis. The sisters, for the most part, were incredibly independent and lived their own lives. They didn’t rely on each other very heavily, but it became very clear that Beauty learned the beauty of human attention. Once she got a taste, she couldn’t go back!
To shock us even further, Catness followed suit some months after. Though she still had her moments of skittish behavior, she’d come to enjoy rubbing up on your legs as you settled in a room. If you moved too quickly, you could blink and she’d suddenly be across the room, but it was clear that our Catness was finding her bravery in an entirely different circumstance than the wild she’d found herself in before.
So, to Oasis Catness went! She settled in nicely. We grew to love her presence at breakfast and dinnertime, where she’d rub up on your legs as you prepared a retinue of her favorites. She was quite the little scavenger, and when the other Oasis cats didn’t finish their plates, she wasn’t shy about hoovering the rest. She got plumper, happier, and over time, we got to experience the unique privilege of seeing Catness become far more social than we ever could’ve predicted.
She showed us her little quirks. She could often be found reclining in the fluffiest of beds and would even accept pets over time. You’d even sometimes see a candid event that only became more common over the years, the Catness blep, and her quiet meows. She spoke rather wordlessly, opening her mouth to state an opinion that never quite left her. But she looked so cute doing it, it would make anyone’s heart melt.
Over time, she grew to tolerate forehead kisses. Even further over time, she tolerated being picked up (we learned this after she was mistaken for another orange girl, Alina). She even got comfortable enough with us to let us know her opinions on ear cleanings and medication time. The verdict was an overall 0/10, and after ear cleanings, she would sulk with her ears flattened and a disapproving stare.
We didn’t just grow to adore Catness; we grew to love her, to truly know her. She became an anticipated part of our day, the once shy kitten in the shadows more than happy to take the spotlight if it meant getting a treat or two. It’s what made it so hard when she became sick. She began spontaneously experiencing mouth pain, with swollen lymph nodes. Unfortunately, after treating with a dental, it became evident that we were dealing with more than a dental cleaning could remedy. Our sweet Catness had cancer, and we knew that that dreaded time was upon us.
Surrounded by those who loved her, who helped her unfurl and warm to the love of people, Catness passed away. She left us swiftly, and we knew our sweet girl was at peace. It is hard to reckon with their absence. It’s hard to walk from the laundry room out into the kitchen and not see those familiar green eyes glancing up at you, or feel her sweetly rubbing up on your legs in her infamous greeting. In her last days, she even gave us a few real meows. We just adored Catness, and though she is no longer with us, we know she will live on in our memories, in the stories we tell, and in her sisters’ faces and mannerisms.
Now, Catness stands at life’s crossing. She looks upon an endless grove of green, so much like the green of her eyes. She’s warmed by an eternal sun, streaking beams of light upon her that look so much like the orange of her fur. Across the path stands the Shadow Cats she knew in life, a colony once again, free of pain, and free, period. Catness crosses the path, trotting in the way we loved so much, trotting in the way she must have all those years ago as a kitten hearing a tin of delicious cat food open. Padding through the grass, our Catness finds a spot to nestle, to bathe in the sunbeams upon a branch in the way she did on our sanctuary’s catio shelves all those years. She knows true peace, basking in the glow of the love she knew.
Thank you to Catness’s amazing sponsors, Kat G, Margaret V, and Susan W. Thank you to the wonderful volunteers who always accepted her notorious greeting, sweeping back and forth on your legs in a message of love. Thank you to the incredible staff who cared so deeply for Catness not only at her healthiest, but also when she became sick. Who tended to her with loving hands, gentle pets, and hearts brimming with love. Thank you to Vista Vet for providing her with excellent care. Thank you so much to anyone who ever looked at Catness’s little blep and thought it was the most precious thing. It was.
We love you, Catness. We always will.
Catness had 3 Sponsors
Kat Gesh-Wilson
Margaret Vandevier
Susan Weathers