In the spring of 1991 I went to a local restaurant to eat
breakfast after a night of drinking and drinking.
Some people I knew were outside and I said hello to them.
Suddenly I saw a tiny little creature smaller than my hand curled up
under the paper machine to stay dry because it was raining.
At the same time another person saw her also. We looked at each other
and then said “I’ll take it” at the same time.
Another person said “Whoever can name it first gets it.”
I blurted out POOH!
I picked her up and she looked half starved and half dead.
I put her in my car wrapped up in my jacket and went into the
restaurant to eat. The first thing I ordered was a fish patty
for the poor cat. I took it out to her and she gobbled it up.
She was starving. The next day I took her to the vet.
His news to me was she wasn’t going to live a week.
I went home took a week off work and dropper fed her for
a solid week on formula. She lived until May 11 1999.
At the time I didn’t know what she would possibly do for me.
I lived alone and had 2 other cats at the time.
They were real self sufficient and standoffish.
Pooh was different. She was full of love. She showed it.
I didn’t know at the time but she was there to teach me about
unconditional love.
In October 1991 I woke up after 3 days from a drunk that lasted for a year.
I was an alcoholic and could not face my problem.
When I woke up after those three days there were three sad faces
in a row by my bed.
God sent me an angel. Pooh was the vocal one!
She meowed and meowed and I believe she was telling me to
get some help. I did get help and have been sober since then.
Pooh saved my life by telling me to get sober and stay sober.
She loved me that much. I had never had unconditional love before
or a pet that tried to get me help.
I’m eternally grateful to her for what she said to me that day.
In the spring of 1993 I was living back with my parents because I had
made such a mess of my life that I ended up loosing everything.
My cats had to live in the garage and I would be out there with them
when I wasn’t at work or asleep.
I noticed a growth on Pooh’s stomach which the vet thought could
be a tumor and we had her tumor removed. It turned out that the growth
was just scar tissue. The vet told me the cat had to stay indoors at all
times until she recovered and that wasn’t possible at my parents house.
I asked a good friend of mine to let her come stay with him and he said yes.
I also told him that this cat was extremely mommy dependent and
I needed to spend a lot of time with her because she was so needy.
So was I with regard to her. So every day I would go see my cat
and a deeper relationship was forming with my male friend whom I
had known for 13 years. We became best friends and ended up
getting married in August of 1993. If it had not been for Pooh I
probably wouldn’t be married the wonderful man I have now.
Once again God gave Pooh another job to do.
I have been happily married since 1993. Every night Pooh would burrow
in my hair and make biscuits(or knead) until she was calm and relaxed.
That was her ritual. She talked constantly and would always be
under my feet. She was so mommy dependent.
Sunday on Mother’s Day I came home from seeing my mom to find Pooh
paralyzed from the waist down. I rushed her to the emergency vet and his
prognosis was poor. She had passed blood clots to her legs and lungs.
She was laboring to breathe. The doctor gave her blood thinner
pain medication and something to help her breathe easier
and we went home. I stayed up with her until 5a.m.
That was the last night we had with her.
Monday after I got up we took her to our vet and he said
the kindest thing we could do was to put her to sleep.
She was having trouble breathing she couldn’t eat or drink or potty.
She died Monday May 11 1999.
We brought her home and buried her under a wisteria tree I
had just planted. We are making that area her memorial garden so she
can be surrounded by beauty just like she brought to my life.
Her death was so sudden. I am so very sad. It is 3:14a.m.
I am having trouble sleeping because her nightly ritual became my
very desperately missed ritual.
What I thought was her calming relaxing burrowing in my hair
and biscuit making was my calming and relaxing ritual too.
I didn’t know that until she died.
| Pooh |