Writer, Photographer,

I have some bad news today. We’ve been out of town and left the kittens in the care of the shelter, who gave them to another foster family for the time we were gone. Yesterday I called to see when I could pick them up, and was told that Pocket Mouse had died the day before. I guess she and the runt stopped eating and became really listless, and when taken to the vet were both diagnosed as “failure to thrive.” Because mamma cat was always so thin, she couldn’t give all six kittens the nourishment they needed in the womb. So when they came out into the world it was with weakened bodies, underdeveloped organs. And there was nothing anybody could do.

Life. How delicate, how unpredictable. Pocket Mouse was by far the most active kitten; the most advanced. She loved to just stare up at you with her round, unblinking kitten eyes. She was everyone’s favorite. I’m comforted with the knowledge that in her short life, she was happy and had the best chance possible. She was loved and prayed for, but in the end, she is a reminder that all life is so delicate. 

I’m also grateful that God spared me the experience of being the one to discover listless, dying kittens on my watch. As difficult as this is, I know that would’ve been worse. 

Things aren’t looking great for the runt, and I’m praying for a little bit of a miracle. Because all life matters, even small life.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 at 2:34 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.