Lessons From a Very Poorly Cat

Yesterday, I had to rush Tispsy (cat) to the vet. Tipsy is one of those cats that turns cat haters into cat lovers — he has a thing about him.

I had went outside for a breath of fresh air. He was lying in the sun, just at the door.

Nothing unusual until he went to stand up, both his back legs were paralysed.

No hesitation, I grabbed the cat basket, popped him in it and drove to the vet.

My diagnosis was he had broken his legs. Had he been run over by a car? Landed the wrong way after a jump? Jumped from something too high?

On first examination the vet said his legs weren’t broken, he needed to x-ray and see what was going on. I started crying. I’m not an expert, that’s the vet’s job. But I knew it was far more serious than a break.

Seeing my tears, the vet started to sugar-coat his words, I knew exactly what he was doing (making it easy for me) and I had to say, ‘I’m upset yes, but please give me everything straight, you don’t need to cover anything up’.

He didn’t. He gave me possible causes and none with an ending that any pet owner wants to hear, but only the x-ray would reveal anything.

His x-rays showed that Tipsy had broken his back.

Leaving him yesterday with the agreement that if he shows no signs of improvement through the night, the inevitable needs to happen. I received my phone call this am. And there is hope.

How? Because he had used his litter tray. It means that his body his still receiving messages from his brain and that is a v-e-r-y good sign, he can feel.

He’s not out the woods, I know that. I just have to wait today, tomorrow and possible the next day.

But I’ve been thinking about yesterday afternoon (as expected.)

This is life. Real life. Events and experiences that unexpectedly happen. Moments when we excel at putting everything else aside and focus on what needs to happen next.

When we have no hesitation in calling in an expert, no time to waste, no hanging about or second guessing. They never stop.

We don’t know what we don’t know. I guessed it was a broken leg, based on a) my limited perceptions and b) my very limited knowledge, am I doing this elsewhere in life? What am I not seeing that is obvious to others?

Being upfront and completely honest. I had to ask the vet to do this. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like to wrapped up in cotton wool and denied the reality of situation. Do I wrap myself up anywhere? Do you? Unable to face the reality of what is actually happening?

Some days are days for ‘just being’. If you need them, take them.

Let’s finish with this, it’s popped into my mind twice today:

Where there is great love there are always miracles – Willa Carther