Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Sick One at the Door....



[Click the Title: Sarah McLaughlin "Arms of an Angel"]

Late one night this weekend a sick emaciated cat arrived at our door. People always think that nurses have Vet training, we have had many sick critters arrive at odd hours.( Here is the short list, all kinds of rabbits, a pregnant Skink, a chicken with a head injury, a turtle that suffered a bad meeting with a garbage disposal, a three legged hedge hog and on and on). My big manchild of a son, 6-6, carried the wounded slip of a creature up to his room and made her a bed . I had had her in a carrier with towels and blankets, I recieved a scowl and a lecture on my"bedside manners". There has been much scurrying and sleeplessness, caring for this little damaged creature, warm milk, kitten food, water sweetened with gatorade. The 7 pounds of skin and bones and sunken eyes ; I know she will be tended and loved and fluffed and fattened in no time. By 5am this morning my son announced she had a name, Violet.

But what struck me was that when the cat was brought to us, my first thought was let this be Something that I can handle because there is no money for vets and fancy drugs and treatments.It is the same emotion that floods me and my neighbors when someone is sick, because so few of us have insurance. And the other emotion that flooded me was that someone abandoned this creature left it to fend for itself, no food or water, no protection. And I found myself flooded with more emotion, as aren't we all abandoned at this point....on our own to take care of our own. There have been no signs and no one looking for this little creature...She has been discarded, set adrift in a world that she can not navigate. No one should be set adrift.

I see that President Clinton has written a book called" Giving". I am struck that the book might need a Primer, called Caring. I worry that we are losing our Compassion , our ability to Care. And people that do not Care certainly do not Give, This Regime has certainly schooled us on Abandonment. And people that do not care or give, do things like Discard those that are Most Vulnerable.

Violet is asleep in my son's favorite chair, and Xena our Elderly Princess Cat has walked by with looks of disdain , and Yellow Dog has nervously checked on the wounded cat every few hours, and now is asleep like the exhausted nurse that she is...

So my apologies for light blogging this weekend, we were tending a Little Life.

10 comments:

Anon-Paranoid said...

And my possum was back in the shed on Saturday morning when I went to do a load of laundry.

And I don't have the heart to call Animal Control as I don't know what they will do with it.

Yet I don't really want it to take up residence in the shed either.

Any ideas what I should do enigma?

Well off to bed now. Rather late for me as I get up at 4:30am for work.

Take care and I hope your new kitty gets well and becomes a joy for you and 6-6.

God Bless.

Anonymous said...

angel of mercy! sounds like you've been through this before. she is so lucky you were there for her. you & son will have the little miracle kitty up & purring in no time.

You mentioned feeding milk. I'm sure you already know this, but since I found out the hard way once ... remember NO cow's milk. Get KMR (kitten milk replacement) at a pet store. Cow's milk can cause severe diarrhea which is exactly what you don't want in an already emaciated cat. Good luck with this; I know it's a handful; but I also know she is in the best of hands. ~~ D.K.

Anonymous said...

Anon-P: I left you a comment on your blog about possums -- some ideas how to encourage it to move on. ~~ D.K.

enigma4ever said...

AnonP; I will head over with Possum lessons as well..we had one out back all summer ( mine was an Opussum- but I bet the same things work)....in the meantime- wear boots friend...you can also put mothballs on the floor..that might help..)

DK..thanks...and great tip- I was actually going to but baby formula in the am- but hey I am game to try anything at this rate...poor thing...

billie said...

i would have a whole houseful if left up to me. i hate to see discarded people or animals. defenseless creatures need our help and support. good on you and 6-6 for being carers as well as givers. america has gotten the taking part down and the discarding- but we are sorely lacking in the caring and giving. money doesn't count. we don't have insurance either.

TomCat said...

Bless you.

PS - I love that song.

azgoddess said...

that song is a good one...we all are in need of some warm comforting now-a-days...

and that kitty is sure lucky she was found by you - but i believe there are no accidents...kind-of like life is full of serendipity moments

Mary said...

I love the name Violet! Good one 6-6! How can an animal go wrong w/2 such loving people.

sumo said...

You've taught your son well...to be giving of himself this way. I think it's wonderful and what a great kid he is to put that little creature before his own comfort. The dog cares too. Such a sweet story. You've a lovely household E.

Granny said...

I'm catching up little by little - been offline for about 3 weeks.

I know that little Violet is doing well. I'm so glad.