“How Do I Love Thee – Let Me Count the Ways…”
Yes, some may think it corny, silly, or even downright dumb to attribute the words of a famous poem to a pet – some people, yes, but not real “animal people”. Those people truly understand the heartache of losing a beloved pet – especially when it comes only a little more than 2 months after the loss of one pet and less than 3 weeks after
the loss of yet another pet.
This is where I am today – forced once more to “let go” of a beloved pet, my favorite cat, Mr. Kelly O’Shea ( he had become my “Irish” cat, because he had red hair!).
Kelly was, I was told by some neighbors, living with people in my building – until, that is, they moved to Texas & left him on the street to fend for himself. How traumatic for him but how fortunate for me! I have always been thankful that I decided to adopt him!
I remember so clearly the night I had looked outside for him up until midnight – I had made an appointment to have him neutered the next day & suddenly, he was nowhere to be found – no fool, he!!! Well, he ran but he couldn’t hide – not for long, & the next day, off to the vet he went ! He was officially initiated into my home on October 26, 1992. He was kind of a loner & didn’t really become involved with the few other cats I had at the time. The following year, he had to deal with the dog I adopted – it took poor Kelly 9 months before he had the nerve to walk across a room in front of the dog! My dog never bothered Kelly at all, but it was
all quite new for my Irishman!
Kelly loved the sound & look of water. He had a funny habit of running into the bathroom if he heard the toilet being flushed and before the cover could be put down, there was Kelly, standing on his hind legs, front paws on the toilet seat, peering down into the bowl! I used to think he must be looking for the Tidy Bowl Man !!! Kelly was very affectionate with me and was a seemingly normal, healthy cat, having received a good bill of health from the vet – shots given & all tests having come back negative for the usual diseases. Suddenly & very unexpectedly, 6 years later, Kelly had some unusual symptoms which prompted me to ask for him to be re-tested & even the vet was shocked that Kelly tested positive for FIV.
After that, over the years,
several ailments occurred:
A) an ongoing, strange condition surrounding his nails B) an unusual bacteria in his toes that’s usually found in the lungs C) a severely infected toe D) an ongoing severe inner ear infection that required a major operation and special aftercare at home
E) the return off & on of the ear infection F) thyroid disease (enter pills!)
G) kidney disease (enter me giving him IV fluids!) & finally, severe anemia & a heart murmur – amazing that he lived this long – he would have turned 17 on November 11th. Kelly endured so, so much throughout his life – yet, he was so, so loving with me at home. Another problem with Kelly was that due to a trauma he suffered at one vet clinic back in 1996, he became a vicious maniac when taken to any vet clinic after that – I doubt anyone in ANY clinic would have believed me about his true loving nature!!
The years passed & Kelly just hung in there – he went through many types of vet visits, many procedures, many treatments at home – he just went on & on & on – until he could not go on any longer. Now, I will go on…… but as of this writing, Kelly has only been gone for 6 hours and oh, how I miss him.
With Love and in Sorrow,
| Kelly O'Shea |
| 8, Sep 2008 |
| Geri |