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Looking at old photographs and getting melancholy late at night. So I guess tonight is a memorial night. I work with a no-kill shelter as a volunteer and have since late 2018/early 2019. We have a lot that find homes, some that are either effectively or officially permanent residents (most of my guys are permanents), but we do have a few that pass away for various reasons. I miss them. Pooky was a sweetheart. Fairly normal age for my group (6 or 7 when he passed), but by far one of the friendliest in the shelter. He'd get up on a shelf and rub his face against your forehead. He'd sit on your lap and give the sweetest stares and purrs. He'd climb on your shoulders just to be with you. We ended up actually having him in a popularity contest fundraiser (hence the tie).  Unfortunately the metaphorical dice didn't end up in his favor. Kidney failure, he had hidden it very well until it got severe. Nothing we were really able to do for him but make it an easy and painless exit. Pooky is one of the ones who got me to start working with the shelter in the first place - he was definitely unique.  Whiskers wasn't one of my guys. He was a permanent resident due to special needs; much like my boy Corky, he had urinary issues that had already gotten him returned from one home that wasn't willing to put in any effort, and it turned out that what that home hadn't tried to figure out was that it was a medical condition. So he stayed with the others and saw visitors, and he was loving. Wrapped himself around your arm, another shoulder cat, just a very sweet guy who had a really bad draw in life.  I don't know what happened to him. He passed away a week I wasn't there and I wasn't kept in the loop very well. As far as I know it was painless, and that's what we can ask for.  Bella was an older girl. Obese when she came in (the above is from when she first arrived), and she never did quite reach a healthy weight. Scared and skittish for a long time, worsened by her fur mats being bad enough she had to be shaved. Got pushed around by another old cat, and was generally a poor stressed-out old lady.  We worked on helping her lose weight and get more social. It was somewhat working, but at her age (almost 10) a lot of the damage was done. She got skin infections and other nasty stuff from the combo of her weight, long fur, and inability to reach to clean herself properly, and I don't think her heart ever really worked quite right. She didn't find a new home, but we did our best to make this one okay.  Just the one for Benny, one of our office cats. She was a senior citizen (I think 13 or 14 at least?) who just wanted to roam the office, sit on your paperwork, and successfully beg for treats. Slept a lot, purred a lot. Bonded with management. Age caught up to her, but she had a long time with a lot of love. The rainbow bridge crossings are rare, but it always hurts when we have one. These aren't the only ones, or even the only ones I personally knew; I just still had their pictures in the camera roll. I hope doing our best was good enough.
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Mar 10, 2021 07:02
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 09:39 |
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