Meet Katie. Katie is my feline daughter. She is a dilute Calico of unknown age and unknown birthday. Her age has been estimated by her vet to be roughly 10 1/2 years based on her teeth. Her birthday is February 25th. This was chosen by my niece, Allison seen in the photo with Katie. It was chosen so they could share a birthday since, in Allison's estimation, they are BFF's. I have to concur as they appear to be joined at the hip.I do not concur with her age estimate however, as her teeth were in poor condition when she arrived at my home and one was pulled due to it's horrible state and therefore I feel that this is not a very good benchmark to use for judging her age upon. When I see her playing like a kitten and running headlong up and down the hall full of catnip and kitty treats chasing invisible mice and red dots, I have to wonder if she can possibly be any older than say 7 or 8 years. Of course, I will never know since Katie is a cat and her past is both history and somewhat of a mystery as well. Well, parts of it anyway. Other parts are both tragedy and triumph.



You see, Katie is a rescue kitty. She still has what psychologists would refer to in a human as PTSD. She also bears the physical as well as the emotional reminders of past abuses. Her rescue began in early Autumn 2010. The abuses and neglect was nearing a climactic end. That fall, deputies would raid a double wide trailer in Bedford, Virginia and rescue 103 cats and dogs who were being hoarded by an individual not bent on abusing animals but intent on rescuing them from the former owners who had abused or neglected them and merely no longer wanted them and so they tossed them along the road or at the dump. The hoarder was not a monster but a well-intentioned animal lover who simply got in over his head and needed to ask for help but didn't.




The former owner of my Katie Bug was the abuser who broke her nose and permanently left the deviated septum that gives it the rounded bump on top and causes her to snore like a human when she sleeps. And that individual is the person who also either beat or kicked her in the hips or lower back and made her lower back painful enough that she cowers when anyone touches this area. It took her several months before she would allow a brush to touch her back. When she was first rescued, she was taken to a shelter in Franklin County and then from there to Angels of Assisi in Roanoke, Virginia. She was treated for a flea allergy as she had been surrounded by other animals both in the trailer and the shelter and had been inundated with fleas. This continued even at AoA. She was then fostered by Oakey's Pet Funeral Home in Roanoke, VA.



It was at Oakey's that our paths crossed. I was there to make arrangements for my beloved feline daughter, Hope, who was losing her battle with renal failure. I knew that it was not going to be very long before I would need those services and I wanted to have the memorial/funeral service and cremation arranged and the urn and other items already in place at the funeral home and financial matters completed so that I would not need to do that when she passed. When I arrived to meet Michelle Weade to discuss the arrangements with her, I met Katie in the lobby. She was lounging on the back of the sofa pretty as you please. I knew that as an adult cat with medical issues, allergies and a question of possible heart murmur issues, she would not be finding a forever home anytime soon. I have always been a sucker for the underdog. If there was a one eyed, one legged Siamese with feline leukemia and distemper and diabetes and heartworms and cancer I would adopt them just so they would have someone to love them for those final days, weeks, months, even though it would rip my heart out when they died.



I knew that I could not adopt Katie while Hope was alive as Hope was too ill and unable to be around other animals. However, she was also on prednisone and was getting the kitty equivalent of morphine every 4 hours for pain. So, I knew it would not be long. She began passing occult blood within a couple of days and I called the vet and he helped her cross over the rainbow bridge while I held her in my arms and wept. Then Lisa O'Neill or one of the other women from Oakey's came and picked her up and two days before her 11th birthday, we held my precious Hope's funeral at Oakey's. My Dad, an ordained minister, officiated. I brought Katie home that day. My adoption of Katie was approved by Angels of Assisi based on the recommendation of the Oakey's staff.



Katie has been with me since October 7, 2011. She still has some bad days. The noise of the vacuum cleaner terrifies her more than it did any of my other cats before. She is still mortified by closed doors. She has been with me in her forever home now for almost two years and still rarely goes out of her comfort zone which is the living room, my bedroom and for the past one to two months now, my nieces' room. If I am in the kitchen she will sit in the doorway and cry for a minute or two as if she is begging me to come back from an abyss and when I call her to me, she will walk in hesitantly, I pet her and then she hurries out again as if the room is cursed. She avoids the bathroom like the plague as this door gets closed a lot and she knows it and refuses to get caught inside. I have no idea why she fears the kitchen. She sleeps with me at night but wakes me a couple of times each night to pet her. A cat psychologist would have a field day with her PTSD. Of course I am an enabler I suppose. I comfort her when she is afraid and crying. Then again, When Hope was alive, she was extremely frightened of thunderstorms. She would cower in fear in the middle of the hall dead center in the house and I always sat in the hall with her holding and consoling her as well and yes enabling her. I have to admit that it was a huge relief that Hope was playing at the rainbow bridge when the derecho struck last June. Despite her PTSD, at least Katie is not afraid of thunderstorms. She sleeps right through them. She is not afraid of natural disasters just abusive people and animals. Of course if I had been abused and then caged with other animals I would be just as scared as she is.



When I was five years olf, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. My answer was "a veteranarian" Even at that young age I wanted to help animals. I love animals, all animals. In kindergarten, the local petting zoo, "Blue Bird Gap Farm, brought in some animals for us to see, pet and learn about. I got to touch, hold and study all of these amazing animals. Was I afraid? No. I even help a snake! BTW it was not the last snake I would ever hold. I have held several. I was even bitten by one as I reached down to pick it up. I have also held several bats in my bare hand and rubbed their little tummies while they were wide awake and looking at me with their cute little eyes. They are so soft and adorable. If I could live anywhere, I would live in a cave so I could have bats living with me. (If it weren't for all the bat guano of course.)



I've held and rescued snapping turtles, baby ducks, bats, mice, snakes, assorted birds, lizards, cats, dogs, and more and all with my bare hands. The only one who bit me was the snake. Well, I was bitten by two dogs but they were not during rescues. One was while delivering the newspaper when I was twelve and the other was while working as a nanny and the poodle was jealous of his owner's new baby and tried to grab the baby from my arms and bit my hand to force me to release the baby. The snake bite was my fault. I assumed that since black snakes are non-poisonous that translated to no teeth. So, I went to pick up said black snake who was frightening someone so I could relocate the snake to a more suitable location and did so from the front rather than behind the head and he bit my hand. I still held on and relocated him safely before getting the tetanus shot. All in all, I have never found an animal I dispised. I love all animals. I can't really say that about people. Perhaps it's because animals don't put their feet in their mouths and aren't two faced like people can be. I would take animals over people any day.
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