Recently, I have been wondering if it is time to just stop what I am doing and find another path in life. What with the continuing decline of Mike’s health, all that needs to be done around the property and the house, keeping up with my clients demands and seeing to the needs of my own animals, I have been praying that God would give me a peace about just resigning from the rescue business. I see the worst in people when I am presented with a sackful of kittens someone dropped down a well, or a few years ago when I rescued a black cat someone tried to crucify on a stop sign! I see the evil and it is easy to forget at times that good people also walk among us.

I had to take the kittens to the vet a few days ago. The little mackeral tabby was doing so poorly and I was scared I was going to lose him. I called the clinic and they said they would work me in- so off I went- kittens in tow.

Once there, as usual, the waiting room was crowded. There was a woman with a small mackeral tabby kitten probably about 5 weeks old. It’s eyes were gooed shut, it was sneezing and it was sitting in a open crate, to scared or to sick to move. The woman said she had found the baby on her gravel drive that morning and she was bringing it in to be euthanized because she didn’t have time to deal with it!

We sat and talked a bit, I was constantly looking at this poor kitten who just seemed to have a really bad URI and ticks on his body. I felt so sorry for him/her. Finally, the woman said “If I give you $40.00 would you take the kitten?” (40 dollars would buy 4 bags of cat food) so I thought about it and told her if Ben didn’t find anything alarming wrong with the kitten, I would be happy to take it home. The minute I said the words, I wondered who had invaded my body without my knowledge! The woman’s face lit up like a christmas tree and she leaned over to give me a big hug of thanks. Then they called her into the room- and soon I was called to join them so Ben could talk to me.

The kitty is quite ill- the URI is severe, compounded by bad parasitic loads and ticks. Ben said he would do his best to save the kitten’s life, and if successful he will call me to come and pick him up. I told him that was fine with me and went back to the waiting room and my cats.

After my appointment- the woman rushed up to me in the parking lot to thank me again for taking the sick kitty. I told her, I didn’t have him yet so thanks weren’t necessary. Then she thrust her hand deep in my purse, told me to use the money for the kitties, hugged me goodbye and left.

Halfway home, I looked in my purse expecting to find the $40.00 and instead I found $100.00! I was so relieved because I had to get cat food that day and instead of it coming out of our house budget, I now had this wonderful windfall.

I loaded up my cart with both kitten and cat food and proceeded to the check-out counter. There was a distinguished gentleman in line and he looked at all the cans of food and commented “My but you must have a lot of cats!” So I told him about my operation and he ended up insisting on paying for all the cat food in my cart! Then he went back to the cat food aisle and brought back 2 more cases of canned food and paid for that!

Then a lady called me when I got home. I had a stray come wandering into my yard a few days ago with a badly injured eye. I took the kitty to the vet and then found out about the owner through a fluke. She stopped by and gave me a check for the vet visit and gas. What a nice surprise.

To top it off, there was a generous donation given to the cat cause here when the mail arrived. God had heard my prayers, thought about it and decided it isn’t time for me to quit just yet. So I will plug on and try to get everything i need to do done while taking care of hubby and the precious souls God has entrusted me with.

Solo, the cat from the mill is now on the back porch. He has been neutered and thankfully, there is a home waiting for him. The lady will pick him up in about a week.

The little mackeral tabby is doing a lot better. The non-stop diarrhea has stopped for the time being and he has been eating well. Stimulating is still a painful time for him, it is a dirty job but someone has to do it! Guess I am that someone who is supposed to continue on, even though I am so tired these days I fall asleep while eating dinner.