But we get up again

[pecunium]

Last night we did a great mercy.

CG was over, helping us get ready for the party, and she heard a mewling. It was a kitten, in the shed. Not more than 4-5 hours old, and abandoned. We gathered him up, and got him warm, and made phone calls and took him to a kitten rescue in Berkeley. He ate, and was calm, and cuddled, and snuggled.

Just now I got the word he didn't make it. Kimberly tells me he was probably abandoned because there was something wrong with him. It's hard. It's hard on Amanada, who was with him. It's being hard on me. It's going ot be hard on Marna, when she wakes up, and I tell her.

It's going to be really hard on CG, when I tell her.

As Kimberly said, there isn't anything to be done in situations like this. We did what we could, and he died warm. Which is a big thing. Dying warm is good. In some ways we put that in the win column. It sucks. It sucks a lot, but it's what we could do, and we did it, and that, as the man said, has made all the difference.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

It is, and you did good. For what short bit of life you gave it, the kitten knew somebody cared. When it slipped away it was as comfortable as possible, and probably just went to sleep.

[sylphslider.livejournal.com]

I agree with wcg. I'm sorry that the poor thing didn't make it, but what you did was humanitarian. I would rather know people who helped dying kittens than people who didn't - it's the journey, not the destination, that's ultimately important.

[klrmn.livejournal.com]

i'm sorry

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Speaking only for myself here, that particularly means a lot from you at this moment, because you paid part of his passage too.

[klrmn.livejournal.com]

i never begrudged the kitten. it was the Other Stuff going on that had me upset. there has been a large brain dump over email. hopefully it will be a good basis upon which to understand what went wrong so we can do things differently next time around.

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

I do get that. Still, you were kind and I am grateful.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

He didn't die afraid.
Still, my condolences.

[cynthia1960.livejournal.com]

Lady Bast bless the little one. All of you are part of Her good humans.

death stinks on ice

[siriosa.livejournal.com]

but where would we be without it? we open our hearts to care for the dying, and then we get our hearts broken. and then we do it again.

sometimes i think that's what hearts are for, and all the happy fuzzy warm stuff is merely bait.

you all did the right thing. and doing the right thing is a (small, cool) comfort.

[lwj2.livejournal.com]

It died warm and comforted.

That counts beaucoup.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

There's a lot to be said for dying warm and well-fed. I mean, the options are that, dying cold and alone, and dying in great pain.

If there's a fourth one, I never heard tell.

You did a good thing.

[baron-elric.livejournal.com]

You all have hearts in the right place, and did the good thing. I like to think that most people would. It's a shame that the others (exemplified nicely by the Teabaggers) seem to get all the press.

[bunsen-h.livejournal.com]

"At least he died warm and safe, Calvin. We did all we could, but now he's gone."

"*Sniff* ... I know. I'm crying because out there he's gone, but he's not gone inside me."

From Calvin & Hobbes, after trying to save the life of a baby raccoon. One of the strip's better sequences.

I've had to do this

[dragonet2.livejournal.com]

and the one I found was practically roaring for someone to save it. I called my vet, they'd managed to arrange for someone to raise it because it couldn't be tested for the bad diseases until a while, and ran it in, wrapped in warm, soft towels. And crying. While my father was ill I learned how to drive pretty well while bawling my eyes out.

It had been dropped into my backyard, likely by mom. It had been pierced through with fangs, through the belly. My vet put it to sleep for me. One of the neighborhood toms wanted it out of the way so it could sire its own litter.

You all did good. And if you didn't care you'd be inhuman. And what Calvin and Hobbes said.

Hugs across the e-ways to all involved.

[don-fitch.livejournal.com]

If you want a kitten... you could find one without traveling down here, but my neighborhood feral cat (too wiley for trap, spay, and release) has a litter of four or five (entirely or mostly black, though she's a Roman grey) that are almost old enough to tempt & train with solid food. ( I really don't need my life to be more complicated than it already is. *sigh*)

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

You are all Friends of Cats. You did the right thing. I'm sorry you're feeling sad. It's extremely difficult to raise an abandoned kitten that young, and surrogate parents capable of nursing, and willing to nurse, a strange kitten are very hard to find.

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

(hugs) if they're welcome... I was really sorry to be the bearer of such sad news this morning. It really is rough. I'm quite certain that there wasn't anything any of us could have done, and that it *was* a mercy that he died warm and not alone.

It has, in fact, made all the difference.

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

Hugs are very welcome indeed. Thank you for everything you did, including giving us the news. *hugs* to you and to Andrea, who I don't know.

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

I feel like I want to send Amanda (NOT Andrea, sorry) some sort of little love/happymaking/consolation. Do you know how she feels about flowers/chocolate/interesting bath stuff and whether she would enjoy that or just find it sort of odd?

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

She likes all of the above :) She wouldn't find it odd. She'd cry, for sure though - happy tears. She's young (22), and still lives with her parents while in school, and is my vet-tech kitten-pusher friend who is wiser than her years. She and I are true partners in rescue-crime :)

She is also doing okay - it was a rough night, but it's not quite the same as when you've had them for several days and then lose them - so do as you see fit :)

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

I shall dispatch some loff to your address, for sharing. :-)

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

So Amanda finally came over to pick up her share of the Lush today. I let her pick which she wanted. It turns out she LOVE LOVE LOVES Lush, so you picked well!

Funnier, though, was that the packing peanuts (which are the corn-based ones) are apparently just like scrunchies - only edible *rolls eyes*

Ziggy is a weirdo.

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

Lush for ALL my friends! Lush all 'round!

That is one weird-ass cat. I sort of want him.

[simplykimberly.livejournal.com]

Everyone wants the Zigster ;) He's got a great home lined up for himself - I'm gonna miss him something fierce!

[kestrels-nest.livejournal.com]

It was a mitzvah, by all concerned. HUGS to all concerned.

[inflectionpoint.livejournal.com]

poor kitton. you did what you could.