RIP Pumpkin

On Friday afternoon, my sister found this stray kitten on a road down in Oregon where she lives. She moved the kitten off the road, but it went right back to the middle. My sister thought it was cold and perhaps the road was warm.

She sent me a text with a picture of the kitty and said if ever a cat needed rescuing it was this one. I spoke to the kids and hubby. We decided to offer it a home, so my sister took it home with her. She cleaned the kitty up. They thought the kitty was a girl and named her Pumpkin. At first they kept her in their Airstream trailer, but realized Pumpkin was a total love bug and snuggle bunny. They moved her into the house. She spent the evening being held, cuddled and most importantly loved. If you put her down, she would jump right back on top of you.


While this love fest was going on, I found an animal hospital down there and called them. I told them about the cat and asked if they could examine and test it before I brought it home. It was getting late so we decided to wait until Saturday. Pumpkin slept on top of my sister all night long. My sister said this was a very clingy, but a very special cat.

Yesterday, we were full of anticipation waiting to hear whether or not Pumpkin would get to come home. Because of my other cats, I needed to make sure she wasn't FIV+ or FeLV+. 

My sister and niece took Pumpkin to the animal hospital. She received a full exam and tests (not to mention a bath!). She turned out to be a he! They thought he was 7 or 8 weeks old, but didn't want to vaccinate him until he was feeling better. He had an eye infection and an URI (upper respiratory infection) both things I expected based on his pictures.  But the best news was both his tests came back negative. Other than his eyes and cold, he was healthy! He could come home to us. All I had to do was keep him isolated for two weeks. The doctor suggested having some sort of smock or robe for the kids to wear with him (or change their clothing) and said hand washing was a must before touching any of the other animals.

We were all so excited. I drove down and got Pumpkin from the animal hospital. The poor little guy was so sleepy. The vet staff told me he would be tired due to all the activity of the examination and his bath/blow dry. He slept most of the drive home. At one point he flipped over onto his back and stretched out in his box. It was so cute. We held and loved him, gave him his URI medicine, but he wanted to sleep so we fixed a nice little bed for him in the bathtub so he could take a nap.

Mackenna and I drove to PetSmart to buy kitty toys, little bowls since he was so tiny, a blue collar with a bell on it and some kitten can food. Hubby checked on Pumpkin while we were gone and he seemed fine, still tired, but moving around. But when I took him up his food in his new bowl something was definitely wrong.

Hubby and I immediately took Pumpkin to the emergency 24 hour vet, but it was too late. Pumpkin had stopped breathing and was dead. He'd been home only a couple of hours. We were in shock. There really are no words to express what coming home to the kids from the vet was like.

My sister told me that Pumpkin had the best last 24 hours or so that a stray kitten could hope to have. Our Norwegian Elkhound breeder said that in rescue there aren't always happy endings, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't keep trying. She said for Pumpkin his last day was a great one because he'd been loved and finally had a home, a warm place to snuggle and nap, which was much better than dying on a farm road, outside and cold.

I see their points, but it's hard, especially after Smalls dying in August. We had her for fourteen years. We had Pumpkin physically for only a couple of hours. But it still hurts so bad. And this loss is affecting the kids worse. I think much of that grief of losing our old cat is now wrapped up in losing this new little one.

It really sucks. We thought we were saving a life and adding a new member to our family. Now we are heartbroken. Again.

I've always told the kids that God brings these animals into our lives for a reason. But I have no idea what Pumpkins' way-too-brief visit was for or if we'll ever know why. Sherri, a friend who I met on a climbing forum and is an animal lover, posted this on my Facebook page in response to my status message "Kitty died"...

Not before he had someone fall in love with him. Perhaps that was all his little spirit needed before it left.

Perhaps that was why. And if love was what Pumpkin needed then he got it. He was very loved by everyone he came into contact with these past two days. I just wish it didn't have to hurt so bad for those who still love him.