Normal Day

by  Terri

This is one of my favorite quotes.  I think most of us go along without ever really thinking about how “normal” everything is and not stopping to think how much we should be appreciating that. Then out of the blue your road becomes rocky and you would give anything to go back to that normal day.

I’m sure that will sound overly dramatic when you read the rest of this story, but I have to tell you that this particular “bump” in my road has thrown me for a loop for the past week and I keep thinking, “If only I could go back to when things were normal and boring.”

So here’s the story, and I will warn you ahead of time that it is long.  And it’s about a cat, so if you’re not a cat lover, or even an animal lover, you may want to stop reading here.  I have two 3-year-old Maine Coon cats who I love dearly. I had no intention of getting another cat. Then my daughter-in-law told me that she and my son wanted to adopt a kitten from the Humane Society and wanted to know if I wanted to come along to help her pick one out.  So off we went.

I know it is a noble thing to adopt a rescue but I have such a hard time visiting the Humane Society – I want to bring all of them home!  We fell in love with a beautiful little 3-month-old snowshoe/lynx point Siamese.  She has big blue eyes and the sweetest disposition.  The Humane Society requires you to take the animal you adopt to the vet within the first five days, so we had her checked out and they diagnosed her with an upper respiratory infection. She was sneezing a little and had a bit of a watery eye and they prescribed an antibiotic and some drops for the eyes and nose.  I watched my daughter-in-laws eyes glaze over as they were telling us the dosing instructions.  I asked her if she thought she could handle it (she has a 20-month old little girl) and I offered to take the kitten to my house so I could nurse her back to health.  She gratefully accepted.

Well, things went downhill and within four days the kitten wasn’t eating.   The vet we had seen on Saturday said to give it a couple of more days.  I also called my own vet who said the same thing.  But on Wednesday afternoon, I knew there was no way I could wait. She just laid in her basket, didn’t eat or drink. So I followed the voice in my head and I took her in to my vet who said her temperature was very high and it was a good thing I had brought her in. They gave her a shot, some fluids and a new antibiotic (one that is supposed to be better for upper respiratory infections). He said she should be eating within 24 hours.

Only a couple of hours after we were back home, she hopped out of her basket and to her food bowl and ate! She repeated this several more times throughout the evening.  I am so hopeful that this means she is on the road to recovery.  In the meantime, she is contagious and I need to keep her confined so she doesn’t give it to my other two cats. So I spend a lot of time in the room with her, reading and just keeping her company.  Actually, the only thing I’ve accomplished this past week has been vet visits, running back and forth to buy different cat foods, trying to find one she would eat, buying a humidifier for the room she’s in to help her breathe better, giving her the medicine and sitting with her so she’s not alone.  My daughter-in-law was right.  There’s no way she could have handled this.

So now I have exactly two weeks to get her well and then integrated into the household and introduced to my other two cats so I can leave for Chicago with some peace of mind that things will be okay while I’m gone. Having that fixed date by which this must be accomplished is causing even more stress. Oh, and my son and daughter-in-law have decided they don’t have the heart to take her back once she’s well so she will be staying here with us. 

So here’s a shot of my new little companion:

I’m sure this will pass, she will get well and we will forget about all the drama of the past few days, or at least I’m praying that’s the case. I’m telling you, it will be a long time before I take that “normal day” for granted again!

P.S.  Since writing this, she has progressively improved and is eating like a champ, playing and acting like a kitten and I haven't heard a sneeze out of  her in a couple of days. The other cats have been watching her through a baby gate so I'm hopeful the integration process will go well. Normal day, here we come!

P.S.S.  I just read Kim Klassen's e-mail about the status of her husband who is fighting leukemia. Oh, my, that family has not had a normal day in months. It made me want to go back and rewrite this post. How can I get all worked up over a sick kitten when she is struggling with a very sick husband? But in life it's all relative. Our problems are big to us and even though we try to keep things in perspective, it isn't always possible. Kim and her family will be in my prayers tonight and I'll be praying that she has a "normal" day very soon.