Pooling resources

A rare (in those days) snowstorm decorated the hills in late November, 2014.

It was very pretty but being so unaccustomed, no-one was geared up to deal with it, so it was somewhat inconvenient.

Mere months after I left Washington in 2018, a lot of much heavier snow fell and it seems to have set a trend of hard winters for the Pacific-northwest.

Here Upstate New York, where I was prepared for significantly cold and snowy winters, they have become milder, though we remain prepared.

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In 2014, Grisabel lost her two buddies, Panther and Cisco and soon she too was ailing.

We never learned the nature of Cisco’s illness and the same was true of Grisabel, as it was later with “M” and Colin. Likely it was a form of cancer and perhaps it could have been pinned down with expensive scans, but there was no point in subjecting the cats to such stress when treatment would not be an option.

For senior cats, surgery is risky and for most chemotherapy intolerable. Maybe it would be reasonable to subject a very young animal to such treatment, but I would not consider putting an older pet through such trauma. Even if I could afford it.

Patches, who was then still living with Grant, had a problem with the joints of her back legs and we got them repaired surgically because she was very young and could not have survived otherwise. She did well and enjoyed a happy and long life with us.

So that was a good decision, but when animals are older I think it is unfair to cause them a lot of stress that is as likely to kill them as to help, but it is not always easy to make the choice.

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Diminishing funds sometimes forces the issue, though I believe I would have stretched the budget if I’d seriously believed expensive treatments were the right thing to do.

My foster care concern was not a registered charity since obtaining the license was a complicated procedure that I could not afford. Consequently, it was self-funded. Occasionally, people donated items for the cats and small amounts of cash, but the food and vet bills were significant and quite obviously if I continued with this enterprise, I would soon most definitely be in serious debt.

Time to call a halt to the intake. Down came the website and I had to learn to say “no”, something I have never been good at. But you have to be responsible. Accepting a bunch of animals that you can’t support is doing them no favour.

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Another decision made obvious sense. It was time to pool our resources.

So Grant moved into the house with his, em, rather numerous cats.

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In October, Grant had already brought Toby to join my family, hoping that gentle orange tabby would help me to deal with my losses. My new friend settled in without drama and he was a love, but my heart continued to ache.

Distributing the newcomers, there were several considerations to ponder.

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Not least, seeking the approval of “M”.

He suggested moving the gentle-natured girls into the front room.

Which made sense to us.

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Mama and Baby Girl settled into one corner.

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Bob, Sophia and Patches curled up together in another.

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Part of our reasoning had to do with litter-box issues that were containable in the suites but more of a problem upstairs with wall-to-wall carpeting.

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Abe also took up residence in the suites. Though he did not confine himself to a particular room, he used to sleep alone in the little in-between room.

Abe had a bad heart. One night in May 2016 he went to sleep and did not wake up.

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No way would Dee Dee consider being separated from Grant for a moment. She marched in upstairs to supervise unpacking. Though Tom was very much her senior, she bossed him around shamelessly.

Grisabel had gone by then, so it was Lily, Lucy, Toby, Macy Bunny and I who greeted our new upstairs housemates….

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…and a little grey girl that had dropped into my life unexpectedly with a message from recently departed friends, that it was time to put grief aside and move on.

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