When Magic Isn't Enough

I guess the magic that came off my fingers onto the keyboard wasn't enough to help poor little Patches. My mom say goodbye to her kitty yesterday morning. She's now pain free and running over the Rainbow Bridge with all the unwanted, unloved ones from the shelters. She's teaching them how to hiss, swat and spit at strangers for their own entertainment, I'm sure. It's funny when you first make that lifetime commitment to a pet, it seems like forever. I am sure my mom would tell you that fourteen years was not enough to spend with her precious little girl. Patches was the runt of a litter whose mother had been hit and killed by a car. She was a bottle baby, hand fed by a shelter volunteer in her own home. Patches and Cinder were the last two of their litters and were, at the time, a bonded pair. When I met them, their foster mom told me tales of Cinder fighting her way to the food bowl, then waiting until Patches had eaten her full. She was her protector. As Patches grew, though it wasn't to more 9 pounds, she no longer needed Cinder to fight for her. They also were no longer as bonded. They fought, as sisters do. Patches claimed the bedroom, snuggling with mom every night. She would come walking down the hall around 11pm, complaining loudly to mom that it was bedtime and she was waiting on her. If mom tried to oversleep, she would bite her nose until she woke up. Towards the end, there were no more bedtime cries and no more morning wake ups. She spent most of her time under the bed. Her last day, she and Cinder actually reconciled. They spent time together grooming each other, something they had stopped doing as kittens. Cinder even graciously left her wet food in the bowl for her weaker sister, though Patches was interested. She sniffed it out of courtesy, but passed it up.



Patches went peacefully and painlessly in my mother's arm, the way every dog or cat should get to go - secure and knowing they were surrounded by love until the end. My thoughts are for my mother this weekend and the loss that she has suffered. Each one takes a different piece with you but it doesn't make you want to share your lives with them any less. Mom got a sweet picture of the two that I will post later. For now, I'm going to go bury myself in my writing until my tears stop and I am happy once more. Thank you for reading. Hug your pets tight!