” Tigra is a tabby feral cat that showed up behind our home in the country in the spring of 2008.  We were unable to get within thirty feet of her when off she would run to hide under our covered farm equipment.

I started feeding her and about two weeks later she showed up with her new family of nine kittens.  After the little ones were old enough, I trapped the entire family and took then to the “Friends of The Animals” to have them spayed/neutered, shots and examined by a local vet.

We kept Mama cat and we were able to place all the kittens on farms in our area.  All the cats were still untouchable including Tigra who now resided back at our place.  We fixed a cat house for her and fed her daily.

Three weeks after her return from the vet, we had a pack of coyotes come into our pasture in the middle of the night.  We have never heard such howling and yipping as we did that night.  The next morning we discovered that they had killed a small deer in our north pasture.  That morning I was working outside the shop when I felt something rubbing on my pant leg.  What a surprise…here was my feral untouchable Mama cat walking around my leg, purring, and acting like my long lost friend.

We believe and the vet agreed that she was probably out in the pasture when the coyotes came through, and she got religion overnight.  Since they missed her, she decided that her home in the shop was a pretty good place to sleep and eat after all.

As a follow up to this episode, Tigra now rides on a rug attached to the back of the four wheeler as we travel around the pasture.  She comes to me when I call her.  Actually she responds more like a dog than a cat.  Tigra is now as tame as any cat I have ever seen.  Whenever we are outside she is there to help us one way or another.  We refer to her as the supervisor.

Thank you, Dick, for sending this great story about you, Tigra and your Hot Spring Grandee spa.  Wishing Tigra at least 9 more lives! And, happy soaking to you.