Newt, a 7-year-old orange cat who’d built a cult-like following among the users of the Nickel Plate Trail in Edwardsville, died over Memorial Day weekend — and the news of his death has prompted hundreds of tributes from area residents who fell in love with the friendly feline.
“It's been kind of a sad moment for us as a family to lose this little cat that we loved — but we had no idea that the community would just be so touched by him over the years,” said Chris Wells, Newt’s owner. “We knew people had a relationship with him, but we didn’t know it was to this extent.”
Photos and heartfelt messages have poured in on various Facebook groups for the cat that would wander from the Wells’ home to the nearby trail. It was there that Newt, a cat adopted from the Metro East Humane Society, would hang out.
On the trail just off Plum Street, Newt would often sprawl out, just asking to be petted. He’d regularly approach trail users and posed for copious photos.
The response to Newt’s death has led to the creation of a small shrine at a “critter sculpture” named for the cat. Area residents with no connection to the cat's owners have even sent sympathy cards to the Wells family.
“For us as owners, that has just been overwhelming, a little bit crazy,” Wells said of the response. “It's been heartwarming to know that this little guy, Newt, had such a dramatic effect on the community.”
Madison County Transit, the agency that manages the bike trails, will be collecting all the photos, flowers and tokens placed at the sculpture to deliver them to the family on Friday, said SJ Morrison, the agency’s director.
“Animals, maybe, always capture an individual's heart or a family’s heart, but Newt captured the heart of an entire community because he was so friendly and because he was a little bit of a ham,” said Morrison, who’s also a city councilman. “I think people really fell in love with him. We’re heartbroken.”
For Morrison, Newt was a culture maker that brought people together, and the notable response proves that, he said.
“That’s unique,” Morrison said.
The Wells family cat had always preferred the trail to spending time at home after he went camping. He didn’t like spending time indoors, unless it was a cold winter day, and would cause a little mischief in the house in order to escape, Wells said.
“He liked the great outdoors,” he said.
After sitting on the trail, Newt would return home, generally overnight, for food or water. At first, concerned trailgoers returned Newt, thinking he was lost. Eventually, the Wells family swapped out the cat’s collar. “I like to roam,” the new one read.
The family doesn’t know exactly what happened to Newt. A neighbor found him after he’d been missing a few days. Their guess is that a bigger animal, maybe a coyote or fox, got to him.
Regardless, Wells, who’s a pastor at Metro Community Church in Edwardsville, said he sees Newt as a special gift from God, and he’s thankful the cat could bring a little joy to the lives of many.
“We really don’t feel like we owned him,” Wells said. “He kind of tolerated us and used us for food and shelter at times, but he was everyone’s cat here on the trail. He did become this cultural phenomenon to where people were on the lookout for this little cat.”
MCT placed the critter sculpture, a 9-foot-tall cat that sits just north of where Newt hung out most often, last fall. Originally, it was named Nelson.
However, the community quickly asked MCT to change the sculpture’s name, and now, according to the agency’s website, it reminds “all frequent trailers of their favorite small trail kitty.”
