His name was Devlin …
April 5, 2005 was like any other day, mom was still “mom”
and Alzheimer’s was just beginning to show it’s ugly head. And then it happened … one of the feral cats
left a newborn kitten on the back porch.
So tiny … so very helpless … so very much mine. Up every 4 hours for feedings, burping,
voiding the ol’ bladder …. Everything a momma kitty would be doing. And talking, cuddling .. I knew he couldn’t
see or hear me but I kept babbling at him anyway. Taking him to the vet for weekly weighing,
the tech would lay him on the table away from me and he would lift his nose in
the air and scramble around to get to me.
He smelled me. I was momma and he
was my only baby.
March 2006 it began … seizures. Out of the blue he started experiencing
seizures. Running through the house at
full speed, stopping to bite his tail, sometimes every hour or so, other times
every fifteen minutes; and the battle began again. Money we didn’t have went out the door. The seizures intensified, despite
anti-seizure medication.
Specialist? No money for
that.
April 11, 2006 was like any other day, mom was a little less
“mom” and Alzheimer’s was creeping up on us.
And then it happened … another seizure, this time worse than the
others. Up to the vet …. gone. I had to let him go. You see, mom was getting hard to handle and
there were no options like a Miss Mousie page for me. We had no money for further treatment. I had to let my baby go.
August 31, 2012 and I’m still bawling my eyes out over my
baby. His name was Devlin … and I vowed
the day he died that I would do whatever I could to help others not lose a baby
because of money. No animal should
suffer from lack of care because they don’t have the funds available. Melissa McClone has done this wonderful thing
for a foster kitty named Miss Mousie.
Please go here to read about Miss Mousie … and please, help
if you can. Spread the word if you can’t
help financially. No animal should
suffer … always remember that.
For Devlin
You came to me so small
Tiny body perfect for the palm
Of my hand
No face you saw,
No voice you heard
My touch, my smell was
All you knew
Your cries I soothed
With a calming touch
A soft nuzzle
A gentle rock
I’d speak and croon
Though you could not hear
My lullabies for you
Whimpers to mews,
Crawls and scoots
To gangly legs
You grew through struggles
Not your own but natures grip
You fought the battle and won
The round, this time the victor
But death waits for no one
And the time
Came when the fight could
No longer be fought
And our time together
Had come to an end
Too soon
So I said goodbye
A soft nuzzle
A gentle touch
And I crooned lullabies
Full of words of love
You could no longer hear
Sweet baby, goodbye.
4 comments:
Oh, wow. I didn't know Devlin's story. Hugs! I'm so glad you wrote all this. I just wish there would have been FB back then and way of gathering the troops so to speak. It really does take a village with some of these furbabies. I have tears in my eyes from your post.
And thanks so much for mentioning Miss Mousie. We love her so much. Her medical expenses were the main reason we were fostering rather than adopting. We're going to do everything we can to get her the surgery. The more people who know about it, the better. xoxox
This is why I feel so strongly about what you are doing. Maybe if this stuff HAD been around, I wouldn't have lost my Devlin 6 days after his first birthday. That shouldn't have happened and we have to do what we can to keep that from happening again. Not just being put to sleep, but helping an animal live the rest of their lives pain free ... that's so important to me. That's why I felt strongly that Devlin's story needed to be told .. that his death will come to mean something ...
TIME....beautifully written and I love the poem.
Thank you Dru .. wrote that when he died.
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