Skinny Lenny is now 2 1/2 years old. He’s the 3rd cat we’ve had here on the Ridge and has somehow lasted longer than both of his predecessors. Dusty Sprinkles and Everest Lord didn’t last a year. They both lingered too close to where the forest meets the field. The forest has a way of opening its jaws and gobbling up the small things: cats, chickens, rabbits, etc.
Frankie is a 70 year old man who is single and has been going to the same feed store for over 40 years. He runs 20+ head of cattle near Bellville and sells beef on the highway in addition to being an electrician. A single, middle-aged woman started working at the feed store and was trying to give away 7 feral kittens and in order to gain points Frankie took one of the kittens. Frankie was a little sweet on her and to provide you an ending to that Autumn romance, it didn’t work out.
The kittens were born high in the rafters of the feed store and Frankie didn’t know what to do with a kitten so kept it in the back of his dually. The kitten had been living in his truck for a week when he arrived at the deer lease in August of 2022.
My son and I were at the deer lease that weekend and Frankie gave my son $20 to take the kitten. A great deal of haggling occurred. Frankie told us it was a female cat so we called her Penny. He threw in the little cat carrier he’d been hauling her around in as well. Later we realized Penny was a boy and renamed him “Lenny”.
Sometimes we call Lenny “Frankie Jr.”
I have a 10 foot ladder propped against my office (inside of a barn) and quickly the kitten learned to climb the ladder and sleep on top of my office in the insulation above it. I didn’t see the kitten for a couple of weeks and when it got hungry it ran down the ladder and ate.
It returned to the rafters where it felt safe.
Lenny is fast and thin. It’s not uncommon to see him sprinting across the field for reasons unknown. My daughter dubbed him, “Skinny” at some point and it stuck. Lenny is normally very lithe, but this year he grew a winter coat as seen in the photo.
I tried to pet Lenny when he was younger and he bit me and drew blood, many times. It would go on like this for over a year. Not only would Lenny bite you if you got close, but he would also attack you by jumping on your back or attacking your legs when you weren’t looking. It was very unnerving and he made my children cry many times. At one point I thought about killing him.
He bit my daughter once in such a way that I planned to put an opened can of tuna outside of the shop. When Lenny walked up to eat it I was going to creep up with a pistol and shoot him squarely in the face. I would throw his body down by the creek, deep in the woods, where all the dead things disappear overnight.
I simply didn’t have it in me and still don’t.
Once Lenny jumped up on my workbench and I thought he was going to be nice so I went to stroke his head, lovingly. Lenny dug his entire mouth into the underside of my wrist and ran. Blood started streaming from my arm as I grabbed a can of WD-40 and whipped it in his direction. The can caught the back of his head as he ducked underneath the tractor outside of the shop.
I was extremely angry and wrapped a dirty shop rag around my wrist to stop the bleeding.
Many years ago I had cat named Frank that was very mean, but Lenny is much meaner. Lenny is the meanest godamned cat I’ve ever had. He’ll come around, but you have to be very careful with him. You must pay attention to his movements in order to gauge his temper. It’s hard to tell if he’s trying to be nice or if he’s going to bite the shit out of you and scamper.
I think it’s because of his angry and aggressive attitude that he’s lived so long. He’s an attack first cat.
I feed him once a day at 5:30pm.
I feed him and another cat that we call “Starvin’ Marvin”. Starvin’ Marvin is a feral cat that moved in with us about a year ago. He was living at the neighbor’s house when the owners got divorced and simply left. No one has ever pet Starvin’ Marvin, but I feed him.
Skinny Lenny and Starvin’ Marvin fight constantly and Lenny is always the alpha.
Neither of these cats wear collars or have ever been to the vet. It would be impossible to ever put them into any sort of carrier cage or bring them anywhere civilized. It’s too late for that.
Skinny Lenny is as mean as they come and I look forward to him sticking around awhile.
