Today will be the final day for the burn kitties. They will go to their new home this afternoon. I shall miss their presence very much, but I will not miss the chaos they leave in their wake. It will be nice to claim my bedroom back and sleep once again in my own bed, instead of a mattress on the living room floor.

I think back to when they arrived in September and how after only 24 hours with them, I knew they were in a bad way. How many times I kept taking them back to the vet’s office until I finally got someone to listen to me about what I saw and experienced while they were here. As it was nothing the vets were accustomed to- a rectal and colon infection, it was missed several times. Finally, I asked their care be handed back to my regular vet and once that happened, I had someone on the other end that not only listened to what I had to say, but actually did something about it. Then the healing began.

It is going to be hard to say goodbye to the three of them. We have been through many trials by fire in our short time together. They leave still bearing the scars of their early trauma. Magoo will suckle anything soft- Ash will suckle her brother’s earlobes. Both kitties are very sensitive to their environment and any changes. Fearless Freddy will still attack toes and feet and try to escape outside at every opportunity. I have prepared cliff notes for the new owners to let them know of the differences in all of these kittens. I have asked them to lower their expectations on what they want these kittens to do for them, and just let them decompress and adjust to their new life.

Before I leave them, we will all pray together that God will help guide them and keep the babies safe from harm. Jessie lives up on the mountain far from town in a once thriving but now abandoned set of cabins and a lodge. Her and Jericho live in the main house and her kids fill up the remaining five cabins. But they are in the midst of the woods and I do not want these kittens (especially Fearless) to get outside by accident and go looking for me.

So it is going to be a bit of an emotional time for me and adding to it is the encroaching wedding anniversary for Mike and I. I probably will not be able to keep myself together as we have grown quite close to each other, me and these challenging babies. I know they cannot stay and that the catio is under construction but not quite finished. Molly will be happy they are gone, but it will be a few days before I find my smile again.