The Green Horseman

Unfortunately I have to bring more bad news, but hopefully this may be the last (PLEASE, UNIVERSE!) of it.

In September our favorite barn cat, Arnie, was found in the pasture at our farm. He was paralyzed through the back half of his body. Shaky and in shock.

If you’ve been with me for long enough I’ve written a few articles (Barn Cat Arnie Again and Every Barn Needs…) about this cat. While I love all animals he held a special place in all of our hearts.

Arnie came to the farm after being found on a dairy farm. Caked with mud and manure and extremely small people thought he was a rat. They cleaned him up and started to care for him. He was loaded with worms, they even thought he’d die from expelling them. But he fought and fought. He got a clean bill of health and came to live at the farm where I board my horses.

When he first arrived the little boy fit in the chest pocket of my USPS uniform. He was tiny but full of character. There wasn’t a thing you could do to upset the little guy. He loved being held.

As Arnie grew up he began helping around the barn. He was a fantastic hunter. The chipmunks, mice, birds, squirrels, even bunnies were not safe. Despite having excellent hunting skills he was genuine, gentle, and loving of everyone else. He cuddled with the other cats, the dogs, he even loved the horses. People were his all time favorite. He sat on my shoulders as I did stalls. Played with the hay nets and was always within 1 stall of me when I was there.

Over the past 8 years Arnie’s been healthy and robust. He grew up to be a large boy, you’d never know he had such meager beginnings. He was fearless, and never an ounce of anger lived in him. In fact his fearlessness might have contributed to his injuries. He would not move if anyone was walking toward him, he always assumed that animals and people would step over or go around. We worry that on the night of his injury he didn’t move but he wasn’t seen, either.

After seeing the vet and being nursed along, the farm manager decided that it was time to let Arnie go. He hadn’t made significant improvements in gaining back his hind end mobility nor his ability to urinate on his own. As he devoured nearly a can of spray cheese, he was surrounded by people who loved him and went to sleep.

Arnie was quite possibly the best barn cat there could have been, he came just after losing another favorite barn cat (to age). This is to honor his memory.