Sad endings and new beginnings
By Gina Spadafori
January 1, 2008
Yesterday my friend Sonia had to send her darling cat Mick over the Rainbow Bridge. She adopted Mick at the ripe old age of 10 or so, from Happy Tails in Sacramento. She specifically wanted a senior cat because she knew how dim the adoption prospects are for older pets. They had four good years together and six rocky weeks, and now he’s gone.
He was a wonderful, beautiful cat.
Sonia needed to get out of her Mick-less home, and she needed a pet fix, so she came over to wallow in fur at my place for a while, to cuddle Clara and pat Otter’s fat puppy belly. All the animals seemed to know she needed them, and they were happy to oblige.
Clara was particularly glad to see Sonia, since Sonia wasn’t intending to de-thatch Clara’s thick coat or trim her claw tips. I had done that the night before, taking enough fur off Clara to make almost another cat.
Clara was just starting to forgive me when the puppy pulled her off the kitchen table. I was taking pictures of Clara in her post-grooming beauty and so just happened to have the camera in hand when it all went down — or rather, when Clara did. (Here’s the slide show.)
Clara is a generous, tolerant cat, let it be said. A couple hours later she was purring on the bed next to the evil puppy herself. All was forgiven.
This morning we’re all going out for a long hike (well, the dogs and I are) and then it’s back to work. Or maybe a nap. I’m starting the year with a chest cold, so maybe I’ll take a book and some tea and blow part of the day most pleasantly, in bed with my pets.
***
There aren’t enough words to express how glad I am that 2007 is over. I can’t remember a year more filled with sadness. Dr. Becker and I started our writing partnership a year ago today, and that was definitely the high point (along with our new books) of the year. Not six weeks later, though, the pet-food recalls started and Christie and I found ourselves here on the blog at ground zero of a nightmare, trying to report on an unfolding and under-reported tragedy. Sure, it was heady stuff to hear our work mentioned in Congressional hearings, to be featured in USA Today, the L.A. Times, CNN and more. But it wasn’t worth it, not to us, and certainly not to our readers.
We tried our best, and looking forward we can only hope that our pets didn’t die for nothing, and that change — real change — is on the way, both in how we and our pets eat and in how our country is run and for whom it’s being run. That’s a bi-partisan criticism, by the way, for I’m disgusted with them all.
Hug your pets, check those necks and take a walk. We’re on our way for 2008.
***
Odds and ends: Pet Connection BFF Dr. Patty Khuly has a quibble with “Redemption.” … Speaking of those neck checks, thanks to the couple of readers who reminded me to mention Boomerang tags. I’ve been ordering from them for years, and the tags are sturdy and are delivered in a flash. I love the tags that slip onto the collars. No jingle-jangles. … Also a word for quick-release collars for dogs. Premier makes a nice one. It’s amazingly easy for collars to catch when dogs are playing with each other. With a breakaway collar, no worries.
That’s a very naughty Otter you have there. Good thing Clara is tolerant, my girl would have smacked him silly.
Here’s to a New Year with safe food for us and our furbabies, a Congress that actually works for the people (Ok, Senator Durbin rocks, but the rest should be sent out to pasture), no more animal cruelty, and of course peace on earth.
Hey, I say if you’re gonna dream, dream big!
Comment by 2CatMom — January 1, 2008 @ 10:29 am
I wish she WOULD smack that darn puppy! I am always on the puppy’s case — she just wants to play — but if Clara would really let her have it that would be the end of it.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — January 1, 2008 @ 10:31 am
I second the motion for good riddance for 2007. It will be for me forever, the year that Brandy died. It might well have turned out to be her last season with me but the way she came to her end was one of the worst things Ive experienced in recent history.
On the positive side the collaboration I got from people here truely helped in discovering the true cause which helped me understand and get over it.
And then of course there is Scout who was a stray found just a block from my home. I remember that when I heard this saying, “Maybe he was looking for us…”
For every ending there is a beginning.
Comment by Bernard J. (Bernie) Starzewski — January 1, 2008 @ 12:18 pm
Regarding Dr. Patty Khuly’s quibble with Redemption:
The good doctor makes the exact same mistake she is slanting Winograd with! She mentions studies in passing, but doesn’t give us any footnotes nor names, dates, or anything else one might use to actually look them up. And unlike Winograd’s book, her blog doesn’t have a bibliography at the end.
You can’t win an argument about poor documentation with poor documentation yourself!
As for the reason for her beef in the first place, an issue over inside cats vs. outside cats, I’ll note that Gina has posted about the benefits of inside cats several times and doesn’t seem to be enraged that the studies that back up the belief that it’s much healthier for the cat to stay indoors are questioned or at least qualified by Winograd.
See, Winograd doesn’t demand nor even suggest that you are doing harm to your cat by leaving it inside. Rather, he’s taking some of the edge off of the notion that you’re evil and derelict if you allow your cat outdoors because doing so is tantamount to torture, which people who argue against outdoor cats AND feral cats have used to frame the issue as “it’s better to kill the feral cats than to allow them to remain outdoors since death is better than the torture and suffering that they must be going through by being outside.”
It seems to me, anyone who wants to keep their cats as indoor cats should be able to read all the way through that chapter and not feel one bit worse for making that choice. It’s a complete non sequitur to think that Winograd is speaking against that choice in any way.
Comment by Christopher — January 1, 2008 @ 1:21 pm
I’m sorry for your friend Sonia’s loss of Mick.
Clara is very beautiful.
Comment by Debbie — January 1, 2008 @ 1:49 pm
Regarding Dr. Khuly’s statements:
“Winograd tries to establish a bedrock argument on the myth of the feral cat as an evil that must be eradicated”: my impression was that he was simply laying out all the sentiments and arguments that involve feral cats and TNR, as well as his logical deductions.
“….his argument against ‘nativism’ ….is offensive. The fact that we…… should be lumped in with those who would kill cats….is insulting.” While Khuly’s inference may be valid, I don’t believe it was Winograd’s intent to insult. Rather, I thought he was simply trying to present all the views.
I do agree with Christopher regarding the need for more citations; I would have appreciated a more extensive index, too. Nonetheless, the book was the most profound and stunning book I had read all year - maybe longer. [I read a lot, too.] Frankly, I felt as if I had been [deservedly] punched in the gut.
Comment by Lynn — January 1, 2008 @ 2:33 pm
Words can not express the love and thanks to the G-pack for their boisterous attentions. You lifted a friend in crisis and made the night bearable. My Molly-girl cat has been a comical and loving companion at this time, as well.
Mick was an incredible old soul and brought much grace to my life. His calm, sweet and loving nature will forever be in my aching heart. I’m a truly a better person for knowing him.
Good riddance 2007…Rest in peace
Sweet Boy.
Love and peace to all,
Sonia
Comment by Sonia — January 1, 2008 @ 5:41 pm
Sonia- I’m very sorry for your loss. May 2008 bring you happy memories of Mick.
Comment by Leslie k — January 1, 2008 @ 6:28 pm
Sonia,
The loss of Mick is something that most of us here understand. That black hole in the very core of you, close to your heart - the place that was HIS….and always will be, though he’s no longer there. No one can ever take Mick’s place.
There will come a time when all the wonderful memories of Mick will refuse to be kept in the far recesses of your mind. They’ll come back, slowly, but steadily. Little by little those happy times will begin to fill the void. Your boy’s spirit will return.
Of the many poems and essays about grieving, this one is among my favorites.
http://www.dogquotations.com/l.....ament.html
How wonderful that Mick had you, Sonia.
Comment by Lynn — January 1, 2008 @ 7:52 pm
Sonia, although the linked poem was written for a dog it works for all species.
Comment by Lynn — January 1, 2008 @ 7:57 pm
Sonia, I’m so sorry for your loss. And Gina; wow! Clara has grown into a beautiful girl! I felt bad laughing as I watched the slide show, good thing she forgiving. Puppies! Cute as they are, they’re a holy terror. My attitude is take lots of pictures to remember how cute they were as puppies, and breath a huge sigh of relief when they grow up, because that’s when the real fun begins!
Comment by Cardimom — January 4, 2008 @ 8:42 am
My heart goes out to all who lost their beloved companions… those little critters that depend on us for food and shelter, not to be fed poison by us and die in agony. I am in Australia and I have lost far too many kittens and a stud boy, yet I have no way of getting any justice. Breeders all over the world have been affected by toxic food and we are left dangling waiting for some food companies to put their hands up and ADMIT something was wrong with the food they exported from good ol’ USA. The food I fed was not on the recall list but bloody well should have been. Cats are still getting sick here from this food and I am paying for testing myself in the hope that I can prove the food is toxic. We don’t have a senator, or the FDA or Consumer affairs to even listen to us. I have written to FDA and not even got a reply to say they have read my letter. I don’t want anybody to ever forget 2007 and the only way we will get justice is by never buying pet food again. Do it yourself and be done with the rubbish.
Comment by Valerie — January 23, 2008 @ 4:06 am