Zip has six days before Z-Day, his liberation from the crate and the beginning of his life as a feisty but friendly Bedlam Farm barn cat. He has a permanent home if he wants one. And plenty of mice and moles to hunt.

We are told he doesn’t like other cats as a rule, so he should be happy living here without any others. Zip has loads of personality. He is the barn cat we were hoping to find.

Thanks for your sweet and encouraging messages about Zip; we are more excited about having him on the farm every day. I hope he chooses to stay here.

Today, we cleaned out his litter and rubbed his ears a bit. I left the barn door open so he could look outside and see the dogs and us come and go.

He hasn’t seen the donkeys or the sheep yet, but he can hear them just a few feet away and sell them also, I suspect.

We might extend his acclamation time by a few days, depending on how he is on Wednesday. Day by day, he is more affectionate and more playful. He likes to lick my finger, which surprises me.

And he rushes to the front of the crate when Maria or I are holding treats. I’d say the bonding has gone well.

A pox on the ghouls who keep messaging me to say how cruel Maria and I are to have let Minnie die a natural death in comfort and safety; people like that confound me, I admit. They don’t know us or our vet or Minnie.

They are an especially low form of life, injecting themselves into the pain and loss of others and feeding off other people’s sadness.

They better hope there is not a God. We are grateful to hear from the humans who care.