May 16, 2010

Greetings, everyone!

A very popular saying among cat owners is that cats are like potato chips; you can't have just one! And why would you want to limit yourself to one cat? Cats are just so cute, you have to have more than one.

Not to mention the fact that cats are social creatures. We like to have playmates. When you go to work, we don't want to be all alone in the big scary house!

The other side of this coin, though, is when people take in more cats than they can care for. Cats require medical care and plenty of attention. When the good intentions of a cat lover exceed their ability, financially or emotionally, to care for their cats, problems occur.

So before you decide to fill your house with wonderful furry friends, please look at your situation realistically and make the right decision for the cats. We will appreciate it!

*****

My human, who works as a Cat Caregiver at Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah, recently attended the burial ceremony for one of the sanctuary cats that had passed away. At the ceremony, the following blessing was read, and I wanted to share this with all of you. I'm sure that anyone who has ever lost a beloved cat, or any pet, will be able to relate to these words from Canon Henry Scott Holland.

Death is nothing at all.
I have only slipped away into the next room.
I am I, and you are you.
Whatever we were to each other,
that we still are.
Call my old familiar name.
Speak to me in the easy way which you always used to.
Smile, think of me.
Let my name be ever the word
that it always was.
Let it be spoken without effort,
without the trace of a shadow on it.
Life means all that it ever meant.
It is the same as it ever was.
Somewhere, very near,
just around the corner,
all is well.

*****

A life without cats is like a life without oxygen.
Your friend,
Obie