**Hey again, steemitizens!**

Have you ever lost a pet that was really close to your heart?

I have several times, but the most recent time may have been the hardest time yet.

This was Lil'cat. He was the toughest little dude on my whole 17 acre spread in the mountains. Until he wasn't one day and didn't come home a couple of months ago. I haven't seen him since then.

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWSLh4TxrTdq1RKsXFbmqExsWuiuYpAgrGHzhnfpPfGNH/image.png)

My western North Carolina mountain location backs up to a large National Forest. We have every kind of predator here you can imagine from snakes and spiders to coyotes and bears. Many other's too. Birds, mammals and other things that can kill ya.

I miss my Lil'cat a lot. Raised from right after weaning to the end, he slept with me, kept up with my much larger dogs like he was just another one of them, and was very smart and special.

But you know what. After a couple of months I was starting to think I would never own another cat and get that attached again, when I saw a listing on facebook on a local yardsale page for a free cat named Aslan. That's the name of the Lion who represents God in the classic book, "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe".  The family was moving and could not keep this little 8 month old kitten.

I knew in 5 minutes Aslan was coming to live with me. In an hour, I had met the young couple at the local wal-mart and taken Aslan back to my place.

**This is Aslan:**

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmSDjpejYy8mihLBAwcAZCELFj9gvR3BNkmPvTX2KLFH6F/image.png)

**This is Aslan and Me, cat-napping on my office floor after an all-nighter of managing my off-shore software teams:**

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVQpekA3tC51tB2ShXuJ4xeTpw4BjkbZ3B69eq5UtDMWA/image.png)

**And this is Aslan's message to all of us who ever lost a pet:**

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQTmoYeu5GQpYjwxaGicMmR5CfyJdgR5dTDwE7The74U9/image.png)

This post is a tribute to Lil'cat, may he rest in peace till we meet at the rainbow bridge. And a welcome to Aslan, who will be in some of my future posts as sidekick, and co-star. Wait till you see Aslan play fetch! That's right, I said Fetch! A cat, raised with small dogs for his first 9 months, that acts like a dog! Video someday soon!

And with that, this post is finished, Full steem ahead, steemitizens!