Life's Lesson -
As hunters oftentimes we are not seen as the animal caretakers that God has assigned to us. Yes, we take animals for food, clothing, and other things but when the time comes to save, we are usually the first to act with compassion. Sometimes that compassion is shown in death. God gave us that responsibility and I think we excel at meeting it.
Last night I left my place to go pick up 2 cows from the vet. I had dropped them off the night before for medical care that I could not provide. I had gone about a mile down the FM road when I saw something - a small whitish bag or maybe a dead raccoon in the middle of my lane. I kept an eye on it while I tried to drive over with the center of my truck and trailer. A second before I reached it, it stuck its head up to cry an unheard sound. OMG - it's a kitten!
Now, I'm not fond of cats, but I do not dislike them. And, this was a kitten. In the middle of a FM highway. I slammed on my brakes, nearly skidding off the road. I pulled to the side, jumped out and ran back to where I thought the kitten was. Fearing it had been run over by the car that came by after I stopped, I looked frantically for it.
Then I heard it - meow. She had crawled to the side of the road. She was tiny - maybe 4 weeks old. She just had a little bit of blood on her mouth and nose. I picked her up.
She didn't seem to have anything broken so I carried her cradled in my arm back to my truck. When I got there, Ace, my dog, was very excited to say the least. The little kitten growled and hissed at him. That was a good sign. Then she buried her head between my arm and my side.
She was a light gray with big bat like ears. She had white toes on all 4 feet. Cute little booger only weighed about a pound or 2. It was around 6:30 pm, so I called the after hours line. I had to leave a message.
"um.. this is Tracey... um ... I'm on my way to pick up my cows at the clinic and found a little tiny kitten in the road. She looks like she got hit but it is not a mortal wound. If a vet can meet me at the clinic I sure would appreciate it."
The vet called me back a few minutes later. She laughed and said it sounds like you just adopted a kitten for life. I quickly thought I could post her up for adoption on TBH. Ain't no way I'm taking on a new cat.
It took me about 10 minutes to get to the clinic. The little bat-cat sneezed often and hissed at Ace but mostly buried her head into my arm. When I got to the clinic the vet wasn't there yet, so I loaded my cows and pulled up to the shade, all with the kitten in my arm. She never once picked up her head.
Soon, the vet arrived and we went inside to check out this poor little kitten. This is the squeamish part - beware. If you are squeamish - skip to the next paragraph. The vet (you've been warned) looked at her face. She gently touching her lower jaw to see if it was broken, instead the skin fell back to the corner of her jaw on both sides. The vet jumped and squirmed - "ugugh! Oh god! ..... Tracey, this is really really bad. This is all bone. We can try to fix it, but this type of wound very rarely heals properly. It cannot be attached with stitches and will be prone to infection." She looked again and the top of her mouth was the same - skinned up beyond her nose. The vet jumped with the heebie jeebies again. I chuckled - "stop that! You're the vet!"
Then I said, "let's euthanize her. As much as feel for her, I think the best thing would be to end her pain." "Yes, of course." I held the kitten in my arm and gently, softly stroked her back while the doc put her to sleep. In her short little life, her last few minutes were I hope filled with peace and comfort. And yes, I did shed a tear or two. But only 1 or 2. Why? Because I love life. I embrace love as quickly and deeply as I can because life without love is meaningless. I am not afraid to love, either. Yes, the loss of life is painful but just a few seconds of love is worth every minute of pain.
Life is always precious to me and I hope to you. We have the responsibility and power to preserve and to end it. Life on earth is brief but in the end, I hope we all find peace and comfort in our Savior's arms.
Peace and love --
As hunters oftentimes we are not seen as the animal caretakers that God has assigned to us. Yes, we take animals for food, clothing, and other things but when the time comes to save, we are usually the first to act with compassion. Sometimes that compassion is shown in death. God gave us that responsibility and I think we excel at meeting it.
Last night I left my place to go pick up 2 cows from the vet. I had dropped them off the night before for medical care that I could not provide. I had gone about a mile down the FM road when I saw something - a small whitish bag or maybe a dead raccoon in the middle of my lane. I kept an eye on it while I tried to drive over with the center of my truck and trailer. A second before I reached it, it stuck its head up to cry an unheard sound. OMG - it's a kitten!
Now, I'm not fond of cats, but I do not dislike them. And, this was a kitten. In the middle of a FM highway. I slammed on my brakes, nearly skidding off the road. I pulled to the side, jumped out and ran back to where I thought the kitten was. Fearing it had been run over by the car that came by after I stopped, I looked frantically for it.
Then I heard it - meow. She had crawled to the side of the road. She was tiny - maybe 4 weeks old. She just had a little bit of blood on her mouth and nose. I picked her up.
She didn't seem to have anything broken so I carried her cradled in my arm back to my truck. When I got there, Ace, my dog, was very excited to say the least. The little kitten growled and hissed at him. That was a good sign. Then she buried her head between my arm and my side.
She was a light gray with big bat like ears. She had white toes on all 4 feet. Cute little booger only weighed about a pound or 2. It was around 6:30 pm, so I called the after hours line. I had to leave a message.
"um.. this is Tracey... um ... I'm on my way to pick up my cows at the clinic and found a little tiny kitten in the road. She looks like she got hit but it is not a mortal wound. If a vet can meet me at the clinic I sure would appreciate it."
The vet called me back a few minutes later. She laughed and said it sounds like you just adopted a kitten for life. I quickly thought I could post her up for adoption on TBH. Ain't no way I'm taking on a new cat.
It took me about 10 minutes to get to the clinic. The little bat-cat sneezed often and hissed at Ace but mostly buried her head into my arm. When I got to the clinic the vet wasn't there yet, so I loaded my cows and pulled up to the shade, all with the kitten in my arm. She never once picked up her head.
Soon, the vet arrived and we went inside to check out this poor little kitten. This is the squeamish part - beware. If you are squeamish - skip to the next paragraph. The vet (you've been warned) looked at her face. She gently touching her lower jaw to see if it was broken, instead the skin fell back to the corner of her jaw on both sides. The vet jumped and squirmed - "ugugh! Oh god! ..... Tracey, this is really really bad. This is all bone. We can try to fix it, but this type of wound very rarely heals properly. It cannot be attached with stitches and will be prone to infection." She looked again and the top of her mouth was the same - skinned up beyond her nose. The vet jumped with the heebie jeebies again. I chuckled - "stop that! You're the vet!"
Then I said, "let's euthanize her. As much as feel for her, I think the best thing would be to end her pain." "Yes, of course." I held the kitten in my arm and gently, softly stroked her back while the doc put her to sleep. In her short little life, her last few minutes were I hope filled with peace and comfort. And yes, I did shed a tear or two. But only 1 or 2. Why? Because I love life. I embrace love as quickly and deeply as I can because life without love is meaningless. I am not afraid to love, either. Yes, the loss of life is painful but just a few seconds of love is worth every minute of pain.
Life is always precious to me and I hope to you. We have the responsibility and power to preserve and to end it. Life on earth is brief but in the end, I hope we all find peace and comfort in our Savior's arms.
Peace and love --
I had no choice since there weren’t any boxes or pet carriers around. Thankfully with the help of a wonderful neighbor lady, the kitten was adopted by another family.
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