“Give us today our daily bread…” Matthew 6:11 NIV
One of the most important things pet-owners do for their animals is spay/neuter. The shelter said it would be our responsibility to get this done, and, if we did not, they would consider the adoption contract broken and come get our cats.
I don’t know if they would really do that: we would have bonded and surely any home is better than none. But I was taking no chances. At the end of October, when the kittens were about six months old, I scheduled them for their Big Day.
As with humans facing surgery, they were to “fast” after midnight. Reasoning that they were still babies, and that “fasting after midnight” meant that they could eat UNTIL midnight, I set an alarm.
At the stroke of twelve, I plodded into the kitchen to remove food and water. A sleepy Missy met me, yawning and stretching, and received petting for her pains.
The next morning, they both met me. Archie sat near the empty eating place and fixed me with a golden stare.
“What’s wrong with this picture?” he asked. Little did he know that the picture was scheduled to get much bleaker.
The surgery required an overnight stay. So it was the next day before our little ones came home. Again, the post-operative instructions called for careful reintroduction of food into their systems. I brought them home with the full intention of doing everything just as the doctor ordered.
But the cats had different ideas. Upon release from the carrier, they raced to their dining area, only to find it empty. Astounded, they turned to me.
“What’s the big idea?” they demanded. “Don’t you know what we’ve been through? And to top it off, we haven’t eaten in YEARS!”
Time has no meaning for cats except when it is dinner time. They had been through a lot. And they were hungry. So I fed them.
They attacked their meal with abandon, eyes closed, tails relaxed. But their evident good health did not reassure Barry, The whole time they were eating, he knelt on the floor beside them with his face close to theirs.
“Now, not too fast,” he advised. “Don’t eat too fast and get sick.”
Intent on meeting their own needs, they completely ignored him.
Father, thank You that You do not go “by the rules” when it comes to caring for me. Thank You that I can ask and receive. Thank You that You meet my needs perfectly and always at the right time. Thank You for loving me. Amen