Saturday, March 28, 2015

The Year of the Sheep By Kait Carson


The Sheep ranks as one of the animals that people like most. It is gentle and calm. The cute creature often reminds people of beautiful things.

Starlight
This has been an awful year for pets. I lost my eldest cat, Starlight, on New Year’s Day. I posted my tragedy on Facebook. The feedback was amazing, including posts from others who had lost their pets recently or on the same day. A week later, a very good friend discovered his eldest dog had a serious kidney condition. The dog weakened and died in less than a week. Now my cat, Fred, has been diagnosed in kidney failure. He has 20% kidney function and his bone marrow is not producing new red cells. As a result, we are infusing him daily, and I am giving him three injections a week of EPO (yep the same stuff that cost Lance Armstrong his titles). So far, Fred is responding well, is much more active, and is getting his pink nose back. What is not happening is an increase in his kidney function, so it’s still a matter of time.

Why this tale of woe. I mean, really, I can whine in private. Well, it’s because there is a flip side to this. What you may not know is that once upon a time, I was president of PAWS Animal Welfare Society an animal rescue organization in Fort Kent, Maine. Our mission extended only to cats; we did not have the facilities for dogs. Our lack led us to work closely with local Humane Societies, one of which was Holton Humane Society. For the past year, I’ve been reading about Emerson, the Cat with Heart. Here is his Facebook page Emerson the Cat. When the stories first started, I had no idea who Emerson was, or why he had heart. I thought he was more myth than real. An invention of cyberland. I was shocked to discover that not only was Emerson real, he was injured, saved, and rehabilitated in my old neck of the woods.

Those are the stories that keep us rescuers going. The success stories. Holton Humane has limited resources, all non-profits do. But they went the extra yard and saved a cat that they knew would never bring in an adoption fee. I doubt they expected his story to go viral, but I’m glad it did. It calls attention to why Humane Societies exist. First and foremost, they are all about the animals. They bring kindness, love, and hope to animals that have experienced harshness at the hands of humans. What is most amazing is that these animals do not hold grudges against the race that caused them so much harm. Instead, they repay the cruelty with unconditional love.
 

All of my cats are/were rescues. Star, dumped in my yard. Hutch, left in a sewer just before a tropical storm was due. (In the service of full disclosure, Hutch’s mother may have moved her kittens into the storm sewer, he was found with his brother and sister, none of whom had their eyes open yet.) Missy, we found her when she was eating the squirrel food we put on top of a snowdrift on our back porch during the year of the 200 inch snowfall. Fred, from PAWS, had been picked up by the animal control officer in Quimby and would have been destroyed if PAWS didn’t take him. Zoe was dropped off at our vet’s by her owner’s mother. They didn’t want her anymore, they wanted the dog they just bought. She had dog bite marks on her neck and her medical record read, “euthanasia tomorrow.” Jenny, Piper, and Cub were abandoned in our yard late at night. Jenny is the mother cat, Piper and Cub her kittens. Smokey, now deceased, was abandoned in Arizona by his owner when she moved. He was under the porch steps in 110 degree heat. Elvis, also deceased, found my husband in New Hampshire. He was starving and found to have an acute, but treatable, thyroid condition common to elder cats. Each has brought a special richness to my life. (photos of all are on my FB page: Kait Carson)

Elvis

What about you? Do you share your life with a critter? How did you acquire him/her and what does the pet mean to you?

13 comments:

  1. Rescue workers for animals are doing wonderful things.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kait, thanks for all you are doing and for the beautiful pictures you've included. I don't have critters in my life now, but have many happy memories of time spent with family pets.

    ReplyDelete

  3. Most of my pets just came to me. Either, they were dropped off or I read an ad in a paper that someone wanted a home for them. I've had numerous stray cats appear at my house and made their home in my barn where I fed and cared for them. I have cat allergies so am limited about the cats I can have inside. I have two tabby sisters I got when the owners decided they didn't want them anymore. I've had them for at least five years now.

    My biggest love, however, is Maggie my collie. I've always loved collies. When my previous collie developed grand mal seizures and medicine stopped working and her hind quarters become paralyzed, I had to have her euthanized. I held her and sang to her while she kissed the tears from my face. Yes, I paid for Maggie, but I still feel she was a rescue dog. She was a kennel dog and was going to be used for breeding. Now she has the best world possible for a dog. She lives in my house and has the freedom to run around my farm and explore when we do our long daily walks in the woods.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am so impressed by the dedication of animal rescuers! And so disgusted by those who would treat these poor animals so cruelly. You see the best and the worst at shelters.

    ReplyDelete
  5. All of our animals are rescues. We have two dogs. Hamish is a wonderful, goofy labradoodle who was two days away from being put down when my daughter got him from a shelter (we had a wonderful English mastiff, Xena, also a rescue, whose long-time companion, a rat terrier, had returned home to an owner who was unable to care for her for several years. Xena was lonely.) Mastiffs don't live long, however, and she died, so we got Vinnie, who came from a program at the Zanesville prison.

    As far as cats go, when a cat shows up, we take it to be neutered and get a rabies shot, and if it still sticks around after that trauma, it eventually becomes "our" cat. We presently have six of them.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi all, sorry to be checking in so late. Husband said, "Let's go out for breakfast." I did not say no. There is an amazing and heartwarming tie between writers and animals. I wonder if its because we live such cerebral lives that we are drawn to the sixth sense of animals. The story of Emerson really touched me. That's dedication. Thank you all for commenting.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've never had pets, Kait. My parents didn't want them since they liked to travel, but I enjoyed my friends' pets. It a bit different when they aren't your responsibility. Never having had a pet, now I'm unsure if I'd want that responsibility.

    We lived next door to a dairy farm when I was growing up so there were always animals around. Now that I'm in the big-city burbs where there are four dogs per acre since lots are about 1/4 acre, I'm not thrilled with the ratio. Seeing the cows roaming on hundreds of acres is more my speed. I have to admit to being grateful to those like you who go the distance and take on abandoned pets. I can't imagine how that would feel--your family abandoning you!

    On the other hand, I've read a few true crime/real autopsy reports that say dogs will chomp on their dead owners' bodies if their masters die at home. Gives me mixed feelings about pets. Love them, but not sure I really trust them.

    ReplyDelete
  8. EB We live next to a cattle farm, so I can relate. I can also relate to your ambivalence. Dogs, and cats too, are animals at the end of the day, and they will survive. Gaining their trust is truly something of value because they are letting you into their clan. Especially sweeter if they learn to trust you after they have been so poorly treated.

    ReplyDelete
  9. CORRECTION: One of my Maine friends read the blog and corrected a typo. It should be HOULTON Humane Society, not Holton. I think I need a trip home really soon! Thanks Chris for the sharp eyes!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I had a beautiful Maine Coon named Catarina. She was a rescue and isn't with us anymore, but she lived a long and pampered life.

    Thank you to all the volunteers who work on behalf of our animal friends.

    ReplyDelete
  11. We have four fur-kids. Our oldest, Murphy the one-eyed cat, is battling liver and pancreatic cancer. So we have feline hospice in our house. The youngest, Scout, is a 5 mo old kitten who was orphaned at 2 weeks. She is a rascal-- as a matter of fact, she's trying to nurse from my neck right now.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hi Kara - The size of the footprints they leave behind are amazing. My part Maine Coon, Zoe, sends a special paw pat to you.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Carla, I hope all goes well with Murphy. It is so hard to see them start to fail. Your house sounds like mine, with hanging IVs and injectables. Scout sounds like a little love. We had one, I think it was Zoe, who used to wrap up any loose material she found, curtains, dishtowels, tee shirts, until she could suck on it.Took me a while to figure out what the little reverse dimples were that I was finding all over the house.

    ReplyDelete