Showing posts with label Write More. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Write More. Show all posts

Monday, October 12, 2015

Moments with Kara

Pulled herself up onto things--with no claws.
How did she get on Bob's towel on the toilet seat anyway? The Mysteries of Kara
Looking at overpasses and semitrucks.
Bob's thoughts as to the most important thing about Kara: Where she is.
Kara and timer light.
Kara waking me for love in middle of the night.
Sleeping on jogging pants.
Her purr.
The last night red and blue shirts.

Sunday, October 11, 2015

The Most Important Thing About Kara

What is the most important thing I need to, and want to, share about Kara? Her story? About her being in our lives?
What is the most important thing about Kara?
What is the most important thing that should be told about Kara?
She lived.
That's the answer, I think. Is anything else more important about her than that?
I just don't have think so.

Another Memories List of Moments with Kara

Sinan and the mouse, then Kara and the mouse.
Driving across country.
Driving to Cheyenne.
Chicken.
How she not my thumb, thinking it was chicken.
The red cinnamon tint to her fur when in the sunlight.
Her black skid mark under her chin.
Her half smile marking on the side of her mouth.
In your face when begging.
Didn't play usually.
Rubberbands.
White whiskers, white eyebrows.
How when she meowed her ears went flat.
Tunnel.
Sleeping on plastic and electric things, plus my comb binding machine.
Hurt hind quarters.
Easy to get in the garage after I was concerned.
When she first saw me with a towel on my head.
How she liked my scents.
How she used to do obstacle courses to get from one piece of furniture to another.
How she caught Sinan in her box.
How she caught Sinan in her food.
How Sinan jumped in our bed on top of her when she was sleeping and she let him have it.
How she never understood Sinan wanted to play and not hurt her.
She loved to curl up on top of cardboard or corregated boxes.
How she made me take breaks when I worked and wrote.
She knew we protected her from Sinan.
Kitty crossed-paws.
How she slept on my side of the bed.
Collecting urine.
Never had to be trained with cat box.
How she was so resilient.

Memories List of Moments with Kara

How she would get to her feet when she saw you or when you woke her.
How she looked at us like she absolutely adored us.
How she meowed and purred quite loudly since she was deaf and couldn't hear herself.
How she had a white dot on the tip of her black tail.
Purr.
Her unique meow. Hum into meow. Crescendo.
Rapid fire pawing door with her softpaws until the door opened.
Her gait... Her belly and her feet.
Whiskers forward when rubbing her chin... and in new situations.
Belly flop.
Uneven ears.
Boxing Sinan.
Tunnel.
Didn't like her bed at first.
Sleeping on our pajama bottoms, which were sweat pants.
Bringing her into the house in slow stages.
How she almost had a tile dropped on her head and didn't hear it.
Car sickness.
She leaned to the left when Bob pet her head. Puffy cheeks.
How we thought she was a kitten at first.
Running before she's awake to get to food and trying to fall over as she tried to get her feet under her.
Little beggar.
Sleeping on my purse.
Lying on my tablet sleeves and on our bags and on my laptop.
Drinking out of my water glass.
Footsteps all over the place for her.
Lying on our chests in bed.
How Zack was with her.
Dickies cups
Tea
Sleeping on our bed.
Every morning she came I to the bathroom with me.
She loved looking out doors and windows, just to see, and not to go out.
She in our guest bedroom.
Paw in the air when sleeping.
Ears above her bed.
Thyroid medicine.
Pain meds.
Travel sickness meds.
Screaming at Sinan. And growling.

Friday, October 2, 2015

Picking Up Kara

At noon today Bob and I picked up Kara's remains at the pet crematorium.

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Kara's Last Day on 09/26/2015

On Saturday, September 26, 2015, my husband and I woke and went to breakfast at The Egg and I. I had an omelette with avacado, grilled chicken, swiss cheese, and diced tomatoes. Then, we went to the Farmer's Market (where I tried and bought my first Asian Pear--eight of them actually along with five peaches, coffee, kettle corn, banana bread, pumpkin bread, multigrain bread, and kettle corn). From there, we headed to the house to finish working on the roof of the shed. We had to finish putting up shingles.
At one point, we went inside for a break and went upstairs to check on Kara and say hi. She had labored breathing and wheezed. It was different than what she did since Tuesday. Her wheezing and labored breathing would calm whenever I let her and prayed over her. It just wasn't that easy on Saturday.
So, we called our veterinarian, Dr. G. out in Broomfield, Colorado (a suburb of Denver and an hour and a half from where we live) to see if we should bring Kara in and Dr. G. wasn't in the office. They asked if we wanted her to be called and we said yes.
We waited.
Nothing.
I called the office and they were closed!
So, I sent her an email just in case and we called the urgent care near our home in Cheyenne... We gave them her symptoms and they said to go in to the vet on Monday. We already set up an appointment Monday for Kara to be seen for blood work to see if her thyroid medicine was working, so we were not about to see that vet. Kara was in distress and they wanted her to wait two and a half days to be seen. We will never use that vet. Never, ever.
How did they know it wasn't an emergency and that she wasn't suffering?
Kara was doing better, so we hoped Dr. G. would still call or that Kara could wait until Monday.
So, we went back to work on the shed. We got more shingles put up when the phone rang. I rushed down the ladder to my cell and it was Dr. G. She apologized for not being available. She had eye surgery that day! So, she asked us what was going on and I told her how Kara had labored breathing, wheeled off and on, wasn't eating very well, and hadn't had a bowel movement for a few days. She told me her breath was a concern and asked if we tried an urgent care in Cheyenne and we told her what happened. She was shocked and said that with Kara's breathing issues, Kara needed to be seen right away and asked how far we lived from CSU. I said an hour or so. She told me to call them and go.
So, as I did that, Bob put our stuff away outside and started preparing the car for Kara... litter box, her throw blanket off our bed for the seat, and her carrier. I grabbed her and her bed, held her like a taco in her bed and carried her to the car, which hubby was in and was waiting. I was quite thankful she didn't get upset when I picked her up, as she had the tendency to do.
I sat in back with her. Her litter box was behind Bob, she and her bed were in the middle of our backseat, and I sat to the right and pet her.
We hadn't had time to give her the anti-nausea medicine, so the poor thing jumped up and she headed a couple of steps to her box and started heaving. She hadn't had much to eat, so it was mainly foamy bile at her mouth I was able to brush off with a white towel I brought with us for such a situation.
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Adoption {09/28/2014}

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From: Stacy D.
Date: Mon, Sep 29, 2014 at 12:37 PM
Subject: Adoption
To: X
Adoption

2014-09-28 16:06:28, Sunday

My husband, B, nor I realized it at the time, but we were adopted one week ago today. A feral kitten appeared in our just opened garage and won B's heart when he found it. Then, he introduced the kitten and me. It was the most adorable and loving little one.

Monday through Wednesday, the kitten made repeat visits (probably because of the food and water we set out Sunday afternoon for the malnourished little one). Over that time, I figured out it was a girl, she was deaf, and was clawless on her front paws. Never mind how she was malnourished. There was no way she would survive on her own. She couldn't defend herself and how would she catch food? Never mind how winter is approaching. Therefore, as of her Thursday appearance, she has found a permanent home with us, but is in a temporary home in our garage as we socialize her so we can take her to the vet for a check-up and shots.

Her name is Kara (Kare-uh). It means "friend" in Turkish.

She no longer has to sleep with her head up in the air, alert for danger. As of this afternoon, she no longer pigs out immediately on the wet food we set down for her. She does not know hunger any more. Her little tummy is plump, but her sides are still hollow or concave. They are slightly filling out, but it is slow in coming. She is safe and protected and she knows it. Her life has drastically changed.

Every time B and I see her, she is more social and experiments with us to see what she can do to us and with us. She tries different ways to show affection. The kitten has several favorite sleeping places in our garage: dog/cat bed, on top of a paper bag, on the steps, and on a comfy patio chair with thick cushion.

It's truly amazing.

Kara is wild. Feral. A little beast.

Who is also the biggest lover.

By the way, it's quite interesting trying to figure out how to interact with and socialize with a deaf cat who sleeps a lot. How do you approach her? I've learned to pet her and make sure to leave my hand right there for her to smell. The second she knows it me, or B, she perks up, meows, and gets to her feet/paws. Or, is she wakes before we get to her, or if she is already awake, she meows and rushes over to us.

She has learned a whole new life in the last four days.

Kara has gone from feral and homeless to lover and home. Hungry to full. Wild to gentle. Alone to having a family (B, beagle, cat, and two turtles).

The building of a relationship between between B, Kara, and I has been a special and sacred one.

///

Written: 2014-09-29 12:38:49, Monday

B and I keep doing everything we can do to tell her, through our actions, how we are trustworthy, faithful, and loving. She's responded to every gesture we've made, except for one. She does not like to be picked up. She hisses most of the time when we do.

Consequently, we wonder if she might be bruised on the inside (from either hurting herself or soemthing/someone hurting her) or if Kara had something dramatic happen to her when she was carried. Therefore, we're slowly trying to recondition her. I started off picking her up off of the ground about half an inch and for just a couple of seconds. Now, I can hold her to about three inches off the ground and for about ten seconds. I make sure to pet her and love on her after she allows me to do so--and she gets all excited to receive my affection. Hence, it's a win-win. I jsut wish she could hear me as I tell her, "Good girl." But, I'm sure she senses it.

I wish she could tell me her story. She does in her own Kara, sweet thing, and girlie way. But, I wish she could speak to me and tell me all about it. Like, who dumped her? When? Who had her declawed? (I personally think this is inhumane. It impacts their every movement the rest of their lives. They are defenseless and cannot walk, jump, climb, like they could. It takes all of three minutes to trim their claws and is quite easy actually.)

Other questions I want to ask her: How old is she? What type of cat is she? Why doesn't she like being carried? What does she want from me/us?

I also wish I could tell her how she was loved and never had to worry about anything again. she'll always have shelter, food, water, and love. I wish I could tell her how sorry I am for whatever she experienced in her past.

Kara talks to us every single time we walk into her haven, the garage. She has the sweetest wildish meow and she tells us how excited she is to have company. She trots over to us and immediately starts to purr. Who knew that someone so small could make so much noise? What an absolute delight!

We can make fast movements and she doesn't flinch. She trust us.

I think she has a very laidback, happy-go-lucky, charming, sweet, gentle, loving, easygoing personality. She's as cool as a cucumber. It's wonderful for us--and for her. But, it makes me even more glad she adoped us because this tenderness wouldn't bode well for her in the wild. Thank God she found us--and we found her.

I cannot help but wonder the story of whoever dumped her. They clearly wanted to love her (she's fixed and declawed). Did they move? Did they figure out she was deaf and didn't know how to handle her?

How could they put her in the wild--so defenseless?

She didn't get out. If that was it, I learned last week how many times she returns, if it's a good home. Also, with how malnourished she is/was, she wasn't fed or taken care of by anyone.

I count our blessings she is so loving and has been from the second B met her. Feral cats and kittens usually aren't that way.

It also amazes me how she doesn't doordart or want to leave the garage. Nor does she try to walk away from us when we visit her in the garage. She knows she has it good where she is and likes us. (Praise God.)

B and I did not want another cat right now. (Let me stress that. We did NOT want another cat right now.) It's too soon. Five animals? That's just plain nuts. We are not a zoo or an animal sanctuary.

Yet, Kara adopted us. She is wild. Feral. But, she loves us and trust us. She had no reason to trust us or love us from the onset, but she did.
Kara is a reminder to me of my faith and how I am with God.

{Note: It's 214 p.m. as I sit in the garage on our patio chair and Kara is curled up in a tiny ball, on her paper bag, with her head down, whiskers back, sleeping. She has her guard completely down as we hang.}

The feral cat reminds me how I am wild, too. I am a sinner. I run around and try to do things on my own. I act independent.

{Kara just got up and ran to me for affection. Purred. Then, went back to sit on her bag.}

I act wild and have several deficiencies which could kill me (spiritually). The reality of my situation is I am totally dependent on God. I need Him in order to survive. I need to keep my eyes forever on Him because I cannot always hear Him.

Yes. I have a lot to learn from Kara about faith.

So, who adopted whom?

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Day One: September 20, 2014, Saturday

There once was a cat. She lived in the wild and didn't know of the deep love she could get from a human being because the one she had abused her, neglected her, declawed her, and dumped her. Therefore, love wasn't even a concept she knew.
One day she found an open detached garage door in her home of the Tidewater Area of Virginia. There were two cars inside there and it was full of sights and smells. Curiosity made her explore that garage.
This is where the merging of seen lives began.
This is the tale of our journey as a family over the past year.
///
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///
On Sat, Sep 20, 2014 at 3:12 PM, Stacy Duplease wrote to Mom:
We might be in trouble...


~ Stacy Duplease
Cell
http://RYPStories.blogspot.com
///
On Sep 20, 2014 6:47 PM, Mom wrote:
Who might this be?
///
///
My Email to Mom:
From: Stacy Duplease
Date: Sat, Sep 20, 2014 at 7:20 PM
Subject: Re: Trouble
To: Mom
Cat outside our garage.
Feral. Love bug.
Will let you know if we see her again.

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Moments with Kara: Memories of Our Time with Kara to Write About and Share

Her sweet smell.
How she liked my scents.
Her soft, silky rootbeer colored fur, which looked black and white if not in direct sunlight.
How when she yawned she folded her ears down flat.
How she mewed and didn't meow.
No kitty belly. Concave. At first. Then, she developed a kitty belly while we stayed at dad's.
Having a kitty belly.
Walrus whiskers.
Kitten or cat? Or older.

Three Change on a Dime Moments

Why share the stories of "Moments with Kara?"
She gave us three distinct change on a dime moments where life as we knew it ceased to exist. Our lives were forever changed because of these moments.
1 On September 20, 2014 when she found us.
2 When we found out she had cancer... two types...
3 When we had her put to sleep on September 26, 2015.
{WRITE MORE}