The second day I was greeted warmly and groomed well by both kittens, who, miraculously, were still alive. At breakfast Missy again tried to join us, but ended up playing with two pieces of dry cereal that had been dropped on the floor (accidently) and letting us eat in peace. Afterward, we had a good brushing and played wildly with string. Then the cats settled down for a nap.
This was a relief, because there were still the chores of living to do and many of them could not be done in the designated cat-zones. we were so busy watching them that I had begun to worry if we would ever get anything done again. It was a little easier to leave them if they were asleep.
Toward late morning, Missy climbed into my lap as I sat at my desk. She didn’t seem to mind that she was not getting my undivided attention. From time to time, she would climb up to rub her head on my chin and stand on my shoulder. Then she would groom my ear.
But that afternoon, I realized that while Archie was awake and playing, Missy had been sleeping for a very long time. It occurred to me that I had not seen her drinking any water at all. And I began to worry about her lethargy and about dehydration. We had barely had them for 24 hours.
Back to the vet we went. I was too new to cats to try to handle things with only telephone advice. And they were much too little to practice on.
I had been right: Missy was dehydrated. Some fluid under the skin helped, but the main thing was to get rid of the diarrhea. I was handed a bottle of medicine with the instructions to dose her three times a day. With this crash course in cat therapy, I thanked the Lord for my nursing education. After all, how different could cats and people be?
Medicating an adult cat can be an adventure, but tiny Missy took her medicine without a fuss. Yet in spite of all our efforts, the diarrhea continued. In fact, it got worse and a stool specimen showed nothing.
I remember once, lying on the couch with Missy exploring the end table at my head. My son was standing by, watching her. Suddenly she squatted. He swooped her up, and, in an effort to find a place where she could go, held her directly over me. It was not a happy moment.
We began to suspect that there was a snake in our Eden. I began to question God, “Why did You let us get Missy? It would have been so much better if we had only gotten Archie. School starts again in a few week. We can’t have a cat this sick staying at home alone. Should we take Missy back to the shelter? But we love her! And I hate to admit defeat. Help us know what to do. Help us solve this problem or we will have to give the kittens away. And Lord, how can we do that?”
Father, one of the advantages to hindsight is that the emotion and anguish are diminished by perspective: I know now what happened and I can trace Your hand. Help me remember that the pain of “right now” will someday be “back then,” and You were with me all the time, whether I knew it or not. Amen.