How did Newt, a cat that hung out on a trail in Edwardsville capture the heart of a community?
Lisa Wells heard that tributes to their family’s kitty, who spent most his days lounging along a bike trail in Edwardsville, Illinois, had taken over the 9-foot-tall orange cat sculpture dedicated to him.
“We really weren’t his owners,” Chris says. “He was a community cat.” The Wellses definitely didn’t feel like normal cat owners.Finding Newt About seven years ago, the Wellses agreed to get their sons a pet. Lisa had grown up on six acres near Bethalto, Illinois. They had outdoor cats, and she persuaded Chris that it could work in the suburbs, too.
In the garage, they made a space with a cat bed, kitty tower, food and water bowls and a litterbox. It was insulated and had a heater for the winter. They created a cat door, so they could easily go into the backyard when it was hot. The boys would play with them in the garage and backyard. Newt would catch small lizards or birds and leave them as gifts for his family. But he loved his freedom.
But the biggest challenge may have been convincing concerned bystanders that Newt really did want to stay outside. Even though Newt’s collar said, “I like to roam,” about once or twice a week, someone would call asking if they had lost their cat. Once a man called them when they were out of town and refused to leave the trail until someone came to get him.A handful of times, a person would pick him up and bring him back to the address on his collar.
“They assured me he was not on the trails by accident but rather, for all the attention. The rest is history: after that, we would prioritize trips to ‘his’ trail area hoping to get some more time with him,” she says.
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