Cats, Cats Everywhere...

Well, anyone who knows me personally knows that I'm a nut about animals. I love them- all of them! In fact, I'll go so far as to say that looking back at my life and childhood- compassion towards animals was what my spirituality was about (probably should say is).

So. Should it come as a surprise to anyone that my house seems to possess a hidden signal of safe haven to every single stray animal in our area?

2001- Coming home from church, and found a black and white cat with a severed tail in our back yard... had him to the vet, neutered, tail doctored, and found out that he was FIV + (feline aids), and so couldn't keep him in our house- so, he lived in the garage for a month until All Feline Hospital had their FIV adoption day- for people who wanted to adopt a companion for their already FIV + cat. He was the first to get adopted:)

2003- House taken down over by the village park, and the owners abandoned their very lovely cinnamon tabby. Took to The Cat House in Lincoln.

2004- Early May, and a dog had been running around town for about two weeks. Something was wrong with his ear. My neighbor and I finally caught him, and I checked him out. Full of fleas/ticks- possible ear hematoma, unfixed, no tags, about a year old. Took him to the vet, and for a little over $200.00 he was all better, and ours. His name is Darby:)






2005- Scared black and white dog found in our yard- very sweet- WITH tags!! Hallelujah- spent the day with us, called owner and they picked her up later that day. Apparently, she was scared of thunder, so they thought it was a good idea to have her sleep outside.. umm...??

2005- Absolutely dripping with ticks caramel colored cocker spaniel in great need of a hair cut. No tags- after a great amount of trouble- was groomed and taken to the Humane Society.

2007- Found black and white kitten in drainage area of our front yard. The next day, found his presumed brother eating a grasshopper in the middle of the street. Same voice/same age/totally different in looks- except they're both huge! Oliver and Chester have stayed with us.

2008- Early April, and we found an elderly mixed breed dog in our yard. Wet and cold- no tags... asked around, and found out that she belonged to some people about a mile down the road. Got their names and called, and they picked her up- but... she didn't want to go.. which made me nervous. So, I called later to check on her, and the lady of the house explained to me that she is also scared of the thunder, and doesn't like to come home during thunderstorms- apparently, this is a pattern with her...

2008- Yesterday, getting ready to leave for town, and the kids come inside and say- "Mom! We found a kitten in the yard!!" Open the door to find Matthew cuddling a very scrawny, yet fuzzy black and white kitten about 4 months old. Very hungry, and extraordinarily friendly. Don't know what we're going to do yet, but Matt has him named already (which I tried to discourage...) 'Tibby'. I told him he ought to name him Henry VIII as he's hungry all the time, and number '8' .

I haven't even mentioned the 20 or so animals I've taken into wildlife rescue over the years. Baby birds, thrown out of their nest during storms, orphaned baby ducks, a bat, a squirrel, a rabbit,and a canada goose with a broken wing that I chased through a city park while pregnant, after seeing it walking across a very, very busy street... all alone:(

So, what does this make me? Am I the crazy cat lady?? I don't want to be... Of course, I take extraordinary care of them-my house doesn't smell (I have a sensitive nose...)- my vet is priceless (and has helped me out over and over again with cost), I do have a 'limit' which is more feeling than number... I don't know.. Last year, we lost our older dog Micah during that whole dog/cat food scare. She collapsed, went into shock, was stabilized, but later in the week did it again, and much worse, so I had her put to sleep. Held her in my arms, felt her body go limp, and kissed her goodbye. It was hard. But what is harder for me is knowing that I could do something to help- and then don't do it. Like Oliver and Chester's brother. My neighbors found him and I wasn't sure about the situation, but I didn't want to butt in. They live in a trailer down at the edge of our block, they have two children and a pit-bull (who needs to stay in his yard...) and they didn't seem to be overly careful with him- or careful at all. He came over to our house quite often and would meow around the side of our house until we noticed and went out to say hi. That's all he ever wanted, to say hi. I know, because I'd go outside and pet him for a few minutes. He'd 'talk' to me, and then he'd disappear around the side of the house, off to do whatever it was he did during the day. Last week, as I was driving into town, I saw his crumpled body on the side of the road, and my heart jumped into my throat. I felt sick. I felt guilty...

And when the kids found 'Tibby' (who looks a lot like that little lost soul) yesterday, I felt a little bit like I was getting another chance.

In my church, there was always a lot of talk about spiritual gifts. I wonder if this is mine. I'm the cat whisperer! I know that most people suppose a spiritual gift to only apply to service toward humanity- but I have to wonder. After all, we were asked to care for creation- it was our first job. Have we forgotten that? Have we lost the connection between ourselves and the other creatures on our planet who also carry God's divine spark within them? Genesis 1:21 describes animals as chay nephesh- Hebrew for 'living souls'. This is the same phrase used to describe people in Genesis 2:7. Different translations have messed with this a bit and given the word 'creature' in place of souls when speaking of animals, and left that soul part only for us. Obviously, someone was bothered by that fact, and therefore changed it. Were they feeling a little guilty for treating animals inhumanely perhaps, and were trying to justify the continuation of that behaviour? We'll never know. But one thing I do know-

If I ever catch anyone dumping animals in the country to 'find good homes'- they should probably hope they can outrun me...