Supposedly we volunteers are here to help the cats, not to mention society at large. But I’ll readily acknowledge how much that quiet bonding time has comforted me these past weeks.
Thanks to the marvels of mass communication and the vagaries of journalism, the story I wrote about losing my precious girl appeared on SFGate a couple months after it actually happened. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/03/05/MNshelley.DTL So I’ve been able to heal a bit, and achieve some emotional distance.
But I was impressed, pleased and humbled by the feedback, which brought it all back to the fore. And touched by all the unique sweet stories people shared. There are surely some universals for all of us pet people. Thank you to everyone for your kind words and the heart rending tales of your own.
I did find solace with the shelter cats. My comfort kitties at Maddy’s have been the scared ones. The ones who need extra coaxing but reward me with hesitant trust, the ones where I know my time with them is well spent.
Clark is one of those. He’s a pretty sad eyed tabby who’s been at the shelter since last November, and when he got here he was oh so scared. All the noises and lights and other cats and people moving about just freaked him out. He’s had a stream of volunteers working with him, and he’s made some progress. He’ll creep out for pets, and he’s eating better. I try to spend extra time with him, not talking but just sitting there, letting him adjust to another being sharing his space. Isn’t that what it’s about, with people and pets?
Thanks to the marvels of mass communication and the vagaries of journalism, the story I wrote about losing my precious girl appeared on SFGate a couple months after it actually happened. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2008/03/05/MNshelley.DTL So I’ve been able to heal a bit, and achieve some emotional distance.
But I was impressed, pleased and humbled by the feedback, which brought it all back to the fore. And touched by all the unique sweet stories people shared. There are surely some universals for all of us pet people. Thank you to everyone for your kind words and the heart rending tales of your own.
I did find solace with the shelter cats. My comfort kitties at Maddy’s have been the scared ones. The ones who need extra coaxing but reward me with hesitant trust, the ones where I know my time with them is well spent.
Clark is one of those. He’s a pretty sad eyed tabby who’s been at the shelter since last November, and when he got here he was oh so scared. All the noises and lights and other cats and people moving about just freaked him out. He’s had a stream of volunteers working with him, and he’s made some progress. He’ll creep out for pets, and he’s eating better. I try to spend extra time with him, not talking but just sitting there, letting him adjust to another being sharing his space. Isn’t that what it’s about, with people and pets?
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