by Dianne Maitland
Why with all the wonderful memories I cherish of you am I left haunted by the unexpected sight of finding you dead on the living room carpet. I can't believe that we never had a chance to say goodby. Infact, I can't believe that you died. Friday,when I took you to the Vet, you were healthy. Your allergies were making you "itchy" and I thought another steroid shot would make you feel more comfortable. We'd done the shots so frequently that we knew that Vetalog worked best for you. Apparently, something went horribly wrong because two nights later you died without warning. My beloved Spot,I miss you so much and I am consumed with sadness and disbelief. With all the things you'd been through, I can't believe it ended like this.
I remember the night you were born and my resolve to help you, your mother, and the other four kitties that had the unfortunate fate of being born in a dirty litter box at the animal control facility. You were born seven years ago on Good Friday. I couldn't stand the thought of you and "your family" living in a cage and the uncertainty of even surviving long enough to find a loving home. Bringing you, Mother, and your brothers and sisters HOME was the only solution. I was thrilled when I eventually found good homes for everybody, but somewhere along the way I fell in love with you and your mother and knew you were going to spend the rest of your lives with us. Gregory, decided that since you had those two little black spots on your head we should call you "Spot." Later as you matured, your spots disappeared and you became a beautiful, pure white kitty like your mother. People who hadn't seen you as a baby wondered why we called you "Spot", so later we started refering to you as "Spotless."
I don't know when you started having so many problems with allergies, but you certainly required a lot of veterinary care and so did your mother. I never heard of a cat having asthma before you came along. Normally, cats give their owners asthma. We joked that you were allergic to yourself. I remember the morning I rushed you to the vet with that dreadful bloodclot in your femoral artery and Dr Gates saved your life. Nobody ever believed that you would make a 100% recovery. Even the Vet speculated that your recovery would be 90% at best and you went ahead and regained the full use of your leg and he started calling you the "Miracle Cat!"
No doubt,there were probably many times throughout your life that you wondered why you always were medically challenged and had to endure so many hospitalizations and Vet visits. It wasn't fair. I thank you for your strong will to survive, and for sharing your love with us throughout the hard times. I will never forget you. While the tears stream down my cheeks because I miss you, a part of me smiles because you I envision your joy - being allergy free and enjoying good health at Rainbows Bridge!