Ever since Martin came into my life in the 80's I have always loved black
cats. He was very gentle and oh so sweet. Some cats don't like to be held.
Some cats believe it is their "divine" right to jump into your lap every time
you sad down. Martin was glad to be picked up, but it didn't seem to matter
to him if I passed him up for another of the 10+ rescued cats living in my
partially renovated basement at the time.
I forever rue the day when I asked the attending vet if I should put him down
because he was asthmatic and had an uclerated eye- which I probably caused
by trying to help him breathe with the little dab of Vicks I spread under his
nose. Sadly - she thought it was the right thing to do. I still wonder and forever
berate myself for asking that question and, in my opinion - following her unwise
counsel. We could have had the eye removed and the asthma treated.
On Columbus Day - a bright crisp fall morning, Casey and I were out for our
morning constitutional -she to indulge her "sniffing" pleasures while I prayed
some decades of the rosary as we walked around the block. I pretty much
let her have her way in this regard because for the first 6 years of her life with
another owner - the number of walks she had be given could probably be counted
on my 10 fingers. And yet-despite living in what I considered a sub par home,
she is still sweet and loving. When her owner in 2005 asked me to get her a
good home - I was more than willing -though I told her that I have difficulty
finding good homes for companion animals and that she probably would end up
in mine.
That morning I spotted something prone on the sidewalk a few houses down.
I hoped and prayed that it was not a dead cat. Sadly, it was indeed. This
beautiful young black cat was cold to the touch. I had no idea how he or she was
killed, but I decided that after our walk, I would not pick "him" up because I hoped
that whoever was responsible for his short life may be worried about him and
would be willing and happy to give him a loving, but sad burial. I did remove
him completely off the apron because I didn't want a car to crush him.
Imagine- that 24 hours later when Casey and I again were walking down the
street-this beautiful black cat lay there still. How many people passed him by
and hadn't it in their hearts to pick him up and bury him? How cold this seemed
to me. But maybe - they thought as I- that someone may be looking for him and
it was right they should find him so they would know what happened to him. And
then I was even glad that no one decided to chuck him in one of those new huge
garbage containers which the city had provided all the homeowners with. That
to me is such a callous way to treat one of God's creatures.
I couldn't help but remember the parable of the wounded man in the Bible. So
many had passed him by- even a man of the cloth. None of them offered him
succor or help of any kind until a Samaritan who had almost no interaction with
the Jews - tendered to his needs and took him to an Inn -instructing the Innkeeper
to care for him. And if the money he gave him was not enough - that on his return
he would pay the balance. What a beautiful parable and one in which I find a
parallel to the way we view and treat animals who share this earth with us. So
many people seem quite indifferent to their sufferings - especially the farm
animals who today are confined in factory farms from hell. And certainly there
seemed no one who cared for this poor little black cat.
Well, this morning after liturgy I went to pick him up. He would join two other
cats I buried in my small back yard. My sister Anna had let me bury at least 3
in her back yard and some I had to leave at the vets for a mass burial. This is not
the best option for me -but sometimes I didn't have the time or money to bury
some of them the way I would have liked. However, I take consolation in the firm
belief that at the end of the world, God will restore the earth and us and I will find
again my beautiful animal friends. Many people take comfort in this thought as
I do.
So now my beautiful black cat -I will go out into my back yard and dig you a burial
place. You will be wrapped in a towel or some sort of cloth covered with plastic.
This is the way a beautiful lady who loved cats cared for hers who died while in
her care. I have followed your example - Leona. You died in October on the day
St. Francis died. I took it as a sign that he was pleased with your efforts for
the animals.
