Missy Mae’s Mom

Hi!  Don’t ever let me go on vacation again, because apparently I have a terrible time get back into my routine.  I am feeling better, and I think the cold virus is completely gone.  I was able to stop taking one of my medications, ("Lyrica"), after checking with my doctor this past Monday, and I’m almost rid of that horrible pseudo-narcolepsy problem I was having.  What a relief it is to be able to stay awake for more than 30 seconds at a time.  Now I just need to try to get my head back into a day-to-day work pattern, especially a writing pattern. 

I don’t know if any of you remember the story of how we ended up with our semi-feral kitten foster mom, Missy Mae.  She was a stray, living down near one of the casinos, and she was fed by a woman who resided in a nearby apartment complex.  The woman, Carol, fed Missy Mae, but couldn’t bring her inside because her significant other was allergic to cats.  When Carol was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer a couple of years ago, I reluctantly agreed to catch Missy Mae and bring her home, but I had no idea what I was going to do with her.  She ended up quarantined in our bathroom, and spent a lot of time hiding behind the toilet bowl.  When I had to stick a litter of foster kittens in that same bathroom, Missy Mae became a reluctant foster mother.  She begrudgingly gave a lot of love and affection to quite a few kittens, and even now, a year and a half later, TJ still lavishes her with affection as if she’s his real mom.  Missy Mae still isn’t an active cat, and her entire home range comprises the bathroom and the kitchen, but she has a steady stream of younger cat visitors, and she’s grown to be calm around us.  She even lets us rub her stomach, which is the ultimate cat compliment.

I tried to keep in touch with Carol as much as I could, and I called her every few months to let her know that Missy Mae was doing well.  She said that her biggest concern about her illness had been Missy Mae, and that it had been such a weight off her shoulders to know that the cat was being cared for.  I totally understood how that would feel!  I sent her photos of Missy Mae “mothering” all the different kittens, which was fun, and it made me feel good to know that I was giving someone else peace of mind.  Carol didn’t have email, which would have made things so much easier—I’m not much of a “phone talker”, and when someone is sick, you don’t want to be calling and waking them up or bothering them.  I told her to phone me as often as she wanted, as I really enjoyed talking to her, but she never did… I think she worried she was being a bother.  And knowing how sick she was, I worried about calling her if I’d let a couple of months pass… what if she’d died, how awful would I feel phoning her mother and asking for her?  I don’t know what the etiquette is regarding situations like that (and I hope I’m not in the situation often enough to figure it out). 

Last week, I got a letter from Carol’s mother, saying that Carol had died on December 9th.  To be honest, I had assumed she’d passed away long before that, because the entire two and half years I’d known her, she’d been so terribly ill.  I wish I’d called on a few of the occasions I’d thought of her, although I know my role had been completed just by giving Missy Mae a permanent home.  The note from her mother talked about how much Carol loved Missy Mae, and thanked us for helping Carol when she was in need.  I know that at that time, I felt a bit overwhelmed and in over my head, but now Missy Mae is such a normal part of our home that I can’t imagine her not being here.  And she’s full of surprises, too:  she had a fairly big personality change around the end of December, and she’s been very active and a lot more sociable in the past few weeks.  I think it coincided with me going away, but whatever the reason, Missy Mae is exploring and wandering and it wouldn’t surprise me if she came upstairs one day.  She has a lot of arthritis in her back legs, but she’s exercising so much that she’s practically limber.  I’m sorry Carol was never well enough to come back to Las Vegas to visit, because she really wanted to see Missy Mae again, but I’m really glad she knew that the cat was loved and cared for.  I’d be thrilled to have as much when I’m on my way out. 

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 02/09 at 05:36 AM

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  1. What a nice thing you did by taking in the kitty and giving Carol peace of mind.  And nicer still that you gave her the updates.  It was sweet of her mom to take the time to send you a letter to let you know she’d passed on, considering the times she’s been through the last couple years.

    Posted by Ryssee  on  02/11  at  05:09 PM

  2. This is really a touching story.  You made such a positive difference in two other lives.

    Posted by Nancy  on  02/22  at  04:32 AM
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