Friday, April 13, 2012

Quality of Our Lives

There's really nothing worse than being on "death watch".  Whether it's a litter of failing kittens, or your own pet - knowing that their passing is imminent is worse than the passing itself.  Despite the ridiculously shitty news yesterday, I still managed to get to the shelter.  Being normal is half the battle to get through this stuff.

I rescued 2 adult cats, along with 2 insanely cute hissy kittens.   This time of year, everybody seems to want kittens and our foster parents that have rescued adults are holding tight for adoption calls.  It's true, not everybody wants a kitten - but you'd never know that by the scramble at Petsmart and the number of phone calls I've received for them.   Right now, adopters seem desperate to get a kitten - even a black one! 

It occurred to me this morning that I haven't received one phone call (yet) about an unwanted litter of kittens!  (although I'm sure I probably just jinxed it)  We did take in some bottle feeders and the finder has yet to trap the Mom.  I hate that the Mom cat still "out there" and wondering where her babies are.  Without a doubt we saved the lives of 4 little ones who would end up as more breeding adults.  Let's hope that the Mom cat comes around again.  Same ol' story, I guess.

Blah...I didn't really want to talk about rescue stuff today.  That's not what's on my mind or in my heart.

I took our Maggie for a walk this afternoon. She seemed to enjoy the sunshine and walked slowly. I think that will be my barometer for how she's feeling. If she still looks excited when I bring out the leash and wants to go out for a short walk...she's OK. Quality of life, right?

As we watch Maggie, I think about my own quality of life. Stressing about our house for sale doesn't seem quite as relevant right now. Cooking dinner or the pile of cat barf in the hallway can wait a little while longer.

I don't think I need to make a list of what's important in my life. At 50 years old, I already know what's meaningful: God, our family, our pets, friends, our rescue...maybe in that order? (or maybe not)

I suppose the order of importance depends on what each day brings. Rest assured that each of those gives my life great meaning and a quality to my life that I sadly overlook until I'm slapped in the face with some gut wrenching reality.  Many thank you's to those of you who emailed and commented on my blog from yesterdays post - I know I'm in good company. 

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Beth, it is always hard to lose a pet. It is best to watch them enjoy the life they have left and take one day at a time. I suggest you look up romping and rolling in the rockies as her dog K also has cancer. K is an amazing inspiration.

Emsworth Girl said...

hi beth,
thinking of you and maggie, our pets are family special and hard to part with. i had to laugh as i read your blog my mind was on maggie...i thought i read 'cooking dinner...the pile of cat barf'''...thanks for the unintended smile.

Anonymous said...

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.\*Robert Frost\

Beth- we feel for you. We're on the quality of life watch for our oldest now (almost 12), but watching our newest member (10 months of trouble!)reminds me of the poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay". The cycle of life continues; embrace each day, celebrate what we do right, and cherish the simple moments.

Karin :)

mary said...

So sorry for Maggie and you/your family. Those last days/weeks are so precious and bittersweet. Take care. =^..^=

Devon said...

I'm so sorry to hear about Maggie. It's so hard to lose a member of the family. My thoughts are with you.

Anonymous said...

When my dog died last year I found a chat room with grief counselors on line. Their website has a quality of life scale that I found helpful.

http://aplb.org/resources/quality_of_life.html

Several visitors to the site also ran rescues and were having dificulty grieving to loss of one of their pets>