I have so many ideas for 'blog entries that I want to write but I never have the time and when I do there are always more pressing things to express. I'd like to write more about: food, plants, tarot, astrology, tattoos, dreams, love, friends, nature, birds and so much more...
Right now about all I can think about is the huge list of things to do while I am in Vancouver and my cat's well-being and future.
I've had Fatty since she was the smallest kitten. I remember the day she was born, August 8th, 1996. She was one of a litter of four kittens born to a one-eyed Calico barn cat named Snap on my friend Lynn's farm in Madoc, Ontario. She was the only kitten who survived mauling by the puppy on the farm. She fell from a shed loft and managed to make it to the barn, evading the puppy, other dogs and other grown cats. I took her home early because her mum wasn't interested anymore and she still suckles on fuzzy blankets because of it.
I was eleven-years-old at the time and my parents were in the process of separating. Over the next year Fatty, or Miss Kitty as we called her then, lived in Madoc, Ontario, Contre Coeur, Quebec, Cochrane and Calgary, Alberta with my mum. We were re-united in Calgary at some point and she lived with me or my mum there until I moved to Vancouver in 2006. During that time she had been hit by a car and survived a pelvis fracture as well as fallen 30ft from a tree. Three lives down.
When she first moved to Vancouver she became infested with fleas, she'd never had them before because Calgary is so high and dry. I realised that she was very allergic. So I moved to an apartment with my boyfriend at the time, Jonny. She recovered and became almost a different cat entirely. She had always been skittish and would hide under beds at the least thing but during the time we lived with Jonny she became more loving and started to hang out with us more. Her sociable personality started to come out and she started to love meeting new people, sitting on laps and licking hands.
Over the past six months I've been traveling and she has lived with my lovely friends Renée and Dustin. They liked having a cat so much they got their own kitten, Jovi, and I took Fatima to Sapo Bravo to see how she liked living in the wild again.
Things were going very well until this Saturday when a tabby tomcat stray got into our house and they had a fight. Fatty fell from the loft and is now covered in scratches and missing chunks of fur. Luckily, this coincided with our time off and a trip into Vancouver. She has a vet appointment tomorrow and is just sleeping off the stress for the time being.
I feel so helpless and terribly unable to help my cat, my little life partner. She has been a constant source of love in my life and has been with me through the hardest times ever. It makes me feel so horrible that I can't just be with her. Amazingly, my community is rising up around me to support us. My friends are fostering her until I can find a more long term situation and when I come back to the city in October I swear I will never leave her until her beautiful, little life runs out. At 14, she's already outlived a lot of cats and she is loved by many, if not all that have met her.
It is so amazing how much these wonderful little animals can affect our lives and enrich our experience of love. I am constantly thankful for knowing her love and loving her. She has taught me the practical lesson of responsibility and I know that I am a better person for it.
Here's to Fatima and all of those wonderful, furry little beasts who make our lives better everyday.
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