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Last night on my way home on the scooter, I saw a little heap of dark fur on the road. I pulled over and discovered it was a kitten, probably only a few months old. Little dark calico, not unlike Tatsuko. She'd been run over, kind of flattened around the middle, but it was clearly quick as there was no blood, just a little pee. Her facial expression was sort of surprised rather than in pain.
It always makes me sad to see little dead creatures on the road, needless and pointless deaths. Heck, I've nearly been rear-ended on the scooter a few times due to stupid adolescent squirrels as they prance back-and-forth across the wooded Lawrence streets. But pets make me extra-sad because someone probably loved this little kitty. Someone should have kept her indoors, too; that part gets my blood up.
I parked and turned off the scooter, just in case she was still alive - so as not to traumatize her more. Reached down and carefully picked her up. Her little body formed to my hands, still warm in the cold evening, so this was a recent death. She was small enough that I could completely hold her in my two palms to keep her from drooping. I moved her up onto the grass beside the sidewalk where her owners might find her intact rather than squished, and it just doesn't seem respectful to leave a dead kitty on the street; what cat wants to lay on the road where cars might drive over her? I patted her and told her she could go now.
This is the third kitty I've found like this: still warm on a busy street. I like to think it soothes them just a little to have someone treat them kindly and tell them they can move on, find a new body to inhabit - hopefully bringing along a little more wisdom about cars this time!
The fluffy white cat (in my icon) with the silk scarf around her midsection is my beloved cat Helen. She was in her last weeks in that photo, feeling pretty in her scarf that hid the shaved fur for the morphine patch, sitting on the counter beside a vase of roses. She dined exclusively on roses and tuna for her last few weeks. Her full name was, "The Great Helen of Peerless Whose Face Could Launch a Thousand Combines." She was my most-loved pet who helped me through a lot of hard times. She was vain and selfish and the most loving cat I've ever known. I miss my Helen this morning, miss her very much.
Here's hoping your little loved ones are safe.
Chris
It always makes me sad to see little dead creatures on the road, needless and pointless deaths. Heck, I've nearly been rear-ended on the scooter a few times due to stupid adolescent squirrels as they prance back-and-forth across the wooded Lawrence streets. But pets make me extra-sad because someone probably loved this little kitty. Someone should have kept her indoors, too; that part gets my blood up.
I parked and turned off the scooter, just in case she was still alive - so as not to traumatize her more. Reached down and carefully picked her up. Her little body formed to my hands, still warm in the cold evening, so this was a recent death. She was small enough that I could completely hold her in my two palms to keep her from drooping. I moved her up onto the grass beside the sidewalk where her owners might find her intact rather than squished, and it just doesn't seem respectful to leave a dead kitty on the street; what cat wants to lay on the road where cars might drive over her? I patted her and told her she could go now.
This is the third kitty I've found like this: still warm on a busy street. I like to think it soothes them just a little to have someone treat them kindly and tell them they can move on, find a new body to inhabit - hopefully bringing along a little more wisdom about cars this time!
The fluffy white cat (in my icon) with the silk scarf around her midsection is my beloved cat Helen. She was in her last weeks in that photo, feeling pretty in her scarf that hid the shaved fur for the morphine patch, sitting on the counter beside a vase of roses. She dined exclusively on roses and tuna for her last few weeks. Her full name was, "The Great Helen of Peerless Whose Face Could Launch a Thousand Combines." She was my most-loved pet who helped me through a lot of hard times. She was vain and selfish and the most loving cat I've ever known. I miss my Helen this morning, miss her very much.
Here's hoping your little loved ones are safe.
Chris
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Last week on campus I passed someone's tuxedo kitten who had been run over. It reminded me of my Cassie who we had put to sleep when she got lymphoma. It makes me so sad that there aren't enough good homes for all the little furry people in the world. I never let my kitties out; the statistics on how much longer they live if you keep them inside are too compelling.
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I'm sorry to hear about your Cassie. We had to do the same for Helen, who had jaw cancer. It spreads so quickly in cats: By the time she was diagnosed, the cancer had spread from one side of her jaw all the way across and started down her neck. I took her outside on a harness during her last few days because she so loved the outdoors; this was in busy Seattle, but I was with her and she could be Jungle Kitty of the Northwest! When she could no longer comfortably eat tuna, we knew it was time.
PS: I have to admit that I just spent the past few minutes all sniffly myself.
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Hugs,
WM
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If everyone rode 2-wheelers instead of cages, many fewer critters would die on our roads.
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The flip-side of rescuing my little guy this weekend.
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There are quite explicable tears running down my cheeks right now. Pets like this have the kinds of souls that make me believe in the good of this world, and I am so grateful for people like you who endeavor to deserve them.
Thank you for posting all of this, and for being you.
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I think people desire to do such things more consistently than they show; they just forget it is "okay" to stop the motion of their day so that they can concentrate everything in the act of caring, and greatly.
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Seriously, cats are like kids. To see one hurt, hungry, or abandoned is painful. Thank you for being kind to the little one, and my condolences on your beloved Helen. My cat (The Furbeast) has been with me 15 years. It's painful to watch her turn into a grumpy old lady with failing kidneys and arthritic hips, knowing that this might be her last winter.
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I'm so sorry to hear about your aging Furbeast. It's not fair that those we love get older - and how much more quickly our little loved ones age than we do.
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