JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum RIP ol' Ironhead

Ironhead was a stray cat. He lived in my neighborhood. I posted photos of him on the photo board some time ago. He was ugly but lovable.
We always fed him at my house and let him in when it was cold. He even has his own bed here.

The neighbor lady also took care of him. She fed him and gave him chicken broth and milk because he didn't have teeth.

The neighbor lady told me today that they had to take him to the vet because he was in a bad way. The vet said that he had feline leukemia and had to put him down. They estimated his age to be between 18-20 years old.

He wasn't always a stray. He was a house cat at one time. I don't know what his real name was, but we called him Ironhead because he was so tough. He was owned by an old lady who died about 10 years ago. When her family removed things from her home, they didn't realise that she had a cat, so he was left to fend for himself.

He found himself to our house and the neighbors and we took care of him. Goodbye Ironhead, you were a tough ol' boy.

That is a tough old boy to live that long on his own. We have a stray in our neighborhood that comes to visit and have a bite. We call him Roamy. I've seen him make it through at least three Minnesota winters, and some of these sub-zero stretches are just plain wicked...don't know how he survives.

RIP, Ironhead. Good kitty.

Thanks Mark, he lived a full cats life, but didn't trust anyone enough to live with them. He wanted to be a stray.

I wanted to put a picture of Ironhead up but Flickr wants to play games. Screw them.

Hi Ben,

Boy, I'm sorry to hear about Ironhead. I remember the first time you put that mug of his up here....he was tough alright! But proud too, in his own way.

He also must have had a GOOD head on his shoulders, for knowing enough to find his way to your house. Sounds like you had a little "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" goin' on.

I'll surely be thinking about you over these next few days. They're always the hardest...especially since you've been spending so much time outside...and you'll be expecting him around every corner.

Take care,
Beth

Cats like cookies.

Ben,

Here's the link to your thread about Iron Head on the Visual Arts Thread -- photo will hopefully stay attached....

http://www.jpfolks.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/664749/page/2#Post664749

Thanks for that Beth. It worked. I use Flickr so rarely that they wanted me to enter a new user name. That pissed me off. They are free though, so I shouldn't complain. I was about to comply with their request before I found that you looked up the photo, so thanks. Ben

My pleasure Ben.

I'll confess to getting a little lump in my throat, though, when I saw him again in all his glory....

Take care....

Beth

He was a scary looking but gentle soul. 18 to 20 years old. How long could you ask for?

Did he look like Keith Richards? Prolly so. Well, bless his heart, he got his nine lives worth. I'm an avid cat lover. I'm simply "staff" to my cats. I saw the cutest thing today...I was pulling out of my driveway and I looked on my porch...and my chicken (full grown) was right behind one of my cats, and he knew she was too big to pounce on, and she's pecking on his coat, and he just had this confused look on his face! It was so funny! I wish I had a camera at that moment. It would have made a cute greeting card or something.

We all need to take care of our furry friends. They depend on us, give us unconditional love, and are there when we need them. We need to do the same for them!

Good to hear from you Polly. "Iron" was a true battleaxe. Cupcake was scared to death of him.

My brother owns 10 acres in the woods and has lots of animals. He and family went out of town this weekend, and asked for me to go to his place and feed the animals.

He has a young dog (pup) named "Dairy Queen". His 7 year old daughter named her.

When I got to his place yesterday, there was a large black bull on his land. I called him up and asked if that bull should be there, he said no and that I should chase it off. I said "bullshit", I ain't chasin' no bull off of your property. I don't know how to chase a bull, and I'm not about to learn how.

As we were talking on the phone, that dumbassed "Dairy Queen" hearded the bull out of the gate.

I closed the gate and gave "Dairy Queen" extra food and let her jump into the pool.

Ben:

Thanks for this tribute to an old character cat... and thanks also to Beth for providing the photo thread. Wow. That was one battle scarred old toughie. It is wonderful that you provided him some comfort in the years after the lady he owned died. Cats always own people instead of the other way around... LOL!

Years ago, at the Cabildo in New Orleans... there was a cat that would have made two of Ironhead. Surprisingly gentle and patient but a forbidding looking old Tabby Tom. Cats are tough but loveable.

Sorry about Ironhead, Ben. I remember your post about him in the photo forum. He was the quintessential outdoor cat. And he really bucked the odds, living as long as he did while spending so much time outside. Good for him!

Scott

Gosh
I'm sorry to hear that you lost your friend. Glad that you shared his pictures and story with us though

RIP Ironhead.

Best to you Ben
jm

Wow, such a long life!!
Sorry to hear about this. It is amazing how cats or animals in general adapt to hard circumstances and survive so long

I saw his pic. He looks like a cat that is wild but comes around our home to eat sometimes, we call him Tom Kitty, and he is all marked up like this from many fights. Same markings and all..

Kim