Earlier this month I told the miraculous tale of the return of my cat Lucia. Not only did she come back safe and whole but she seemed to have grown a backbone. She spent more time roaming the house and less hours hiding from the dog on the shelf over our refrigerator. She didn’t even mind the new cat. Well, she did give one token hiss in passing, as if to say, “The Queen has returned. Off with your head!” We had gotten used to the idea of being a 3 cat family. Then, exactly a week after Lucia came home, we woke up to find her lethargic and clearly sick.
Ironically Tatiana, the new cat (my birthday gift) had a bad kitty cold. But after trips to the vet for both of them it became clear that they had completely different things. While Tatiana bounced back Lucia got sicker and sicker, to the point where I had to feed her pureed, watered-down baby-food-like cat food through a baby medicine dropper. Half the time she gagged on it.
On Friday we made the heartbreaking decision to have her put to sleep. The vet decided that she must have developed pneumonia, possibly while she was on the road. Or she could have caught Tatiana’s cold and, being much older, couldn’t fight it off. As I waited for the vet to come in and give the injection I wondered for the hundredth time why God would send my precious cat back to me only to have her die. The only thought that comforted me was, as least she died with me instead of alone in a bush somewhere. At least I got to hold her and stroke her and tell her what a good kitty she was while she slipped away on my lap. Still it didn’t seem fair.
This happened at a time when so much doesn’t seem fair in life. I won’t pour out all the drama. Let’s just say that losing Lucia was just one more hard thing. This morning I read a passage from the book of Job (yeah, I know, what a nice pick me up when you’re already down). God had just responded to Job questioning by basically asking, “Um, are you God? Did you create the world?” Humbled Job responded, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).
I closed my Bible with the sense that God knows what He is doing even if none of it seemed fair or logical to me. I still miss Lucia. I still wish many things were different. But God still cares and has a plan even if I can’t see even a tiny bit of it.
Maybe there is something in your life that seems unfair. Ask God to help you cling to His love and purpose today.
4 comments:
I'm so sorry. I had to put a kitty to sleep a few months ago. It was the pits. Those pets are like family. : ) Praying for God's comfort. I'm sure you were a great home for Lucia.
My fuzzy baby Hershey Kisses has been in my life since I was in fifth grade, I'm now out of college and married. In the last few months he has gotten really skinny and has an abnormal lump on his left hip that seems to be getting larger. When I first went to college, he was having some surgery done and his heart stopped and we learned the hard way that he is deathly allergic to anesthesia, so there is no chance of having the lump removed. When I first moved off campus he came to live with me in an apartment, and accidentally jumped off the balcony, at least we all think it was accidental since it was the third floor. Luckily then he did not break anything, just had some fluid form around his chest from the fall. With that X-ray we learned that his heart is in his body upside down and backward. When he was a couple days old, he was thrown out of a moving truck on a highway in South Carolina, and my aunt got him, nursed him back to health, and sent him to live with me. He has been the best friend that is always there for me. I just do not know what I'd do without him. So many times I think about what will happen to me, when his time finally comes, because he's always been there for almost as long as I can remember. All I can do is pray that God will teach me how to realize that He is always there, even with Hershey is gone.
MJ
Is it silly to be this emotional over a cat?
Thanks for sharing your story today. I really needed the reminder! :)
Deb
Thanks everyone for your sweet comments!
MJ - It isn't silly at all to get emotional over a pet. I wondered the same thing. Through some perfectly timed talks with animal loving friends I realized that God gave us a connection with our pets. He created them for us to love and enjoy. So naturally we grieve when we lose them. You are completely normal! Thanks for sharing about your kitty. It sounds like she has had as many adventures as Lucia had.
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