For the first time, I’m faced with making an end of life decision for one of my cats. Though I knew this time would eventually come, I always felt it was far off in the future and I didn’t need to think about it. But suddenly that time has come with my cat Pumpkin and I’m forced to examine what the best, kindest, and most loving path is for my terminally sick but beautiful 18-year-old cat Pumpkin—to let her die a natural death at home with pain-killers or euthanize her.
Some backstory: About two years ago, my once sprightly, independent “Princess Pumpeedo” (my friend’s nickname for her) started showing signs of slowing down. She was my first rescue cat in 1998. She had been living outside of my apartment in the parking lot for almost a year, living under parked cars where she hid from the constant rain and weather. I fell in love with her the day I set eyes on her. Continue reading Making An End of Life Decision for Your Cat→
Alex is a beautiful tuxedo cat who has been homeless in our neighborhood for the past 10 years. He has survived freezing cold winters; scorching hot summers where the temperatures often reach into the high 90s and triple-digits; maneuvered and outwitted busy residential traffic daily; fought off countless feral and tom cats; avoided close encounters with raccoons, possums and skunks; and dodged all the other dangers and hazards that lurk outside ready to ensnare him. This is the story of Alex, a homeless cat with life-threatening injuries, who has survived against all odds, and was rescued in the nick of time.
“Humans are the overwhelming cause of bird deaths. Those who try to frame the issue as a “cats versus birds” debate contribute, perhaps unwittingly, to the further decline of bird populations. Alley Cat Allies Legal Director Wendy Anderson explores the real reasons birds are at risk — human accountability — and the role lawyers can play in animal protection,” published in Faunalytics article, Animals Vs. Animals, A False Choice.
In terms of the validity of the research conducted on bird predation by cats, read the article Cats Vs. Birds, Researching the Research, published on Faunalytics.
Credit: Cover photo by Cor Gaasbeek, on Pixabay, www.pixabay.com
Yesterday we regretfully had to say goodbye to our loving, beautiful boy Simba. This farewell caught us by surprise and was very unexpected. Although Simba had a long history of health issues, I never imagined having to say goodbye to him so soon, or so suddenly. So it is with great sadness that I have to let go of this gentle, beautiful life and soul and say a final farewell to our dear boy.
Simba was born feral and came to live in our backyard permanently in 2004. Because he adopted us, we built a shelter for him against our fence to protect him from the rain and added soft blankets to keep him warm and dry. He ate his food every morning and night on our patio table and when darkness fell he would take himself to his shelter, and go to sleep. He knew that we were now his home and he became increasingly comfortable with us and trusted us. Though at the time, I could not touch him, I would go out and say goodnight to him in his shelter and he would stay and listen. I felt honored that he let me sit so close to him, though he watched me cautiously.
I wish more than anything I could change what happened to you. I wish that I never went away. I wish I could go back and change everything and do things differently so you would still be here with me. I wish that I could have protected you and prevented what happened to you. I wish I was there for you so you never suffered. Oh, how I wish.
But nothing will change what happened. But I miss you. I will always miss you. I will always look for you in all of your special places—lying in the garden, under the trees, on the grass, curled up on your chair, and always sleeping on my pillow. I will never get used to you not being there—those places will never be the same without you. They are empty now.
The decision to give cat hospice care to our cat Pumpkin has prolonged her life significantly. Now a year and half later after almost euthanizing her, she’s still alive and still enjoying life. Today she’s going to our vet for a checkup to see where her general health is and to understand if we need to make any adjustments to her medical regimen.
I wrote about Pumpkin over a year ago when our vet had recommended euthanizing her to relieve her obvious pain and suffering. She had declined quickly, had lost a significant amount of weight, and was diagnosed with possible lymphoma. But I wasn’t ready to make that decision to end her life and wanted to give Pumpkin another chance, so we worked with our vet to create a palliative care plan for her that would make her as comfortable as possible, address her symptoms, and possibly extend her life. Continue reading Cat Hospice Care Has Prolonged Our Cat’s Life→
As a cat foster, and routinely taking cats to adoptions, finding a home for an adult cat can sometimes be a challenge, especially for the older ones, but finding a home for a handicapped cat can present an even greater challenge. After two years, this handicapped rescue cat found a great home!
Many people looking to adopt a cat are partial to young and healthy cats without any handicaps, deformities, or chronic illnesses of any kind. At adoptions, I’ve even had people ask me how my foster cat’s teeth are and when was the their last dental cleaning? One potential adopter who fell in love with one of my foster cats, who was very healthy, turned her down after I told her that I took her for a final routine checkup (she was adopting her from my home that day) and she had her anal sacks expressed because they were full. The adopter somehow misinterpreted this to mean that the cat was unhealthy! Continue reading Handicapped Rescue Cat Finds Good Home→
With so many homeless, abandoned and feral cats living in our communities, our parade float in the Pleasant Hill 4th of July Parade raised awareness in our community about the tremendous need for spaying and neutering cats.
Champions of Spaying and Neutering Cats
Our Cat Spay and Neuter Parade Float
The 4th of July is associated with loads of venerable traditions including town parades, barbecues, picnics, fireworks, and events paying tribute to our nation’s independence. For me, this July 4th commemorated my first ever town parade that I participated in and one with a very important message to communicate—the need for spaying and neutering cats!
Our formal float name was the “Champions of Spaying and Neutering our Animals.” Our float was the creative idea of a woman in my cat rescue group who is a luminary in planning and executing events and has a history of participating in town parades. As visionaries do, she saw in her mind exactly how to visually communicate the message of spaying and neutering to a large audience, then took action to fulfill her idea. Continue reading Parade Float Promotes Spaying and Neutering Cats→
My life really took an abrupt right turn when I became involved in cat rescue and fostering. I lived a fairly normal life with one cat, then two (adopted one for the first cat), then adopted two more, but everything really changed dramatically when I started fostering cats and keeping the unadoptables—the blind, the shy, the abused, the timid, the feral, the sick, and a few foster failures along the way.
I have been in cat rescue officially since 2003 when I joined Friends of the Formerly Friendless (FFF) in Concord, California, to foster cats and support cat adoptions. I joined Community Concern for Cats (CC4C) three years later in 2006, and have been with CC4C ever since—trapping and rescuing homeless and abandoned cats, spaying and neutering, medically rehabilitating and socializing, fostering, and getting my fosters adopted by screening and interviewing to find the most suitable and best home for each cat. I even screen every adopters’ home for my foster cats, as one last part of the screening process to find the best forever home for each one.
Prior to 2003, it all started when I had adopted an abandoned cat in 1998 that was truly “homeless in Seattle.” I named her Pumpkin, and she moved with me a year later back to San Francisco. Within a month, I met the man I was to marry, and together we adopted “Red,” in 2001–a fearful, extremely timid, abused cat rescued from the Oakland Airport where he lived a very frightened life until we adopted him.
Our Last Christmas Together
When my husband and I bought our house in 2003, we thought with the step-up in size, we would adopt one more rescue cat, which quickly turned into two! On a hot mid-summers day in August, we went to the newly opened, state-of-the-art Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) in Walnut Creek, very close to where we live. We walked through their doors interested in adopting “the cat that no one wanted.” They nodded like they knew exactly the cat, and ushered us along the many spacious cat rooms to “Gracie” and “Dusty.” Both were extremely shy and frightened, had been returned twice, and had lived at ARF for 2-3 years. We went back and forth spending time with each cat, unable to choose only one. We finally looked at each other and after much contemplation and petting, said “we’ll take both!” At the time, of course, we thought that was it. No more cats, we were done, we said. We had our cat family, and that book was closed.
Until one fateful day six months later, when we walked into Pet Food Express to pick up some needed cat food, and decided to walk to the back of the store to check out the cats up for adoption. That led to meeting the director of the cat rescue organization (FFF) who in talking, said she was in desperate need of a foster for new mama cats and kittens at our local animal shelter. Apparently, they were flooded with new mama cats and kittens. We both looked at each other, thinking no way! And went home. The next day, Sally called and said “have you thought about it? There are six mamas with kittens that need adopting, it’s their last day!” We looked at each other hearing her desperate plea, and said “ok!” The next day, a beautiful young, all-black mama cat arrived with four newborn kittens in a carrier together. We designated a bedroom upstairs as the new “foster cat room” and that was the beginning of a totally crazy, new phase of our life as well as a life-long commitment to rescuing, fostering, medically caring for, socializing, keeping and adopting out – so many cats in our greater area. That was the fateful day that literally changed our lives forever.
Sometimes we don’t “choose” our life path — it chooses us. There’s a higher calling for each of us. A higher purpose. One that taps us on the shoulder and says, “we need you!”
Sometimes miracles do truly happen. Or maybe they are simply second chances. My cat Pumpkin definitely got her second chance with giving her daily hospice care, which is keeping her alive and comfortable. Here’s her story.
Pumpkin Lived 1.5 Years Longer with Hospice Care
When I last wrote about her in November 2012, she was literally on death’s doorstep. Although she is a 19-year-old cat, she had previously been very healthy up to last year. She rarely had anything but “annual” or “bi-annual” routine vet visits. But early last year, we noticed her mouth smelled and learned she had Stomatitis, which was followed by dental surgery to remove several teeth, and she was put on the steroid Prednisilone to treat the Stomatitis inflammation. Continue reading Cat Hospice Care Extends Senior Cat’s Quality of Life→
Stories and tips about providing the best possible cat care—from 20 years experience rescuing, fostering, and caring for my many rescue cats.
