Wednesday, July 19, 2017

Farewell to Autumn

Yesterday we said good bye to our good friend Autumn, the cat. She had kidney disease and at 19 years and 11 months, her kidneys wore out and she just couldn’t do it any more.


She was our loyal clinic cat at our LeSueur office for 15 years. When we closed the office we were very concerned about finding a home for her. When she lived with us we knew she loved us but she didn’t ever want to be held and she hated (notice I said hated) being worked on by us. She complained loudly about her exams and we could barely hold her still for her blood draws. So we were concerned about finding her a home when she was so stand-offish. She couldn’t come with us because we already had 3 cats at the Belle Plaine office and we knew that would never work for her or for them.


Just by chance Kathy mentioned to the courier for our labs that we needed to move and were looking for a home for the cats. The courier thought that maybe her sister would be interested in having a cat since she was petless at the time. So Nancy took Autumn home. The next time that Nancy’s sister stopped by she was telling us what a great pet Autumn was for Nancy. How she sat on her lap all the time and would follow her all around the house. We were like “Autumn??? You sure you’ve got the right cat?” When we saw Nancy and Autumn for Autumn’s next check-up, she was telling us what a godsend Autumn was for her. It turns out that Nancy had cancer and was having a tough time and Autumn turned out to be her healer cat in a way, always with her and looking out for her. It turned into a remarkable relationship.
So we were all very sad that it was time to say good-bye to her yesterday.


I have this personal theory that many animals are higher spiritual beings than most humans. These healer animals come to this life partly to help their owners heal. To that end they offer their services selflessly. There is no thought of reward or praise for their services. They just do it often unbidden and mostly unnoticed. We all know the stories of animals sacrificing themselves for their owners and the stories of animals rescuing people or staying close by their side when the people are sick or dying. I’m saying that happens every day, all the time and we don’t even notice it. If the definition of a higher spiritual being is giving selflessly of your gifts without thought of reward or praise or what it might cost you, then our pets fill that bill every single day of the year. So give your pet a hug today and thank them for what they do for you.

I’m thinking I want to come back in my next life as a pet….




2 comments:

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  2. A beautiful tribute to precious Autumn. Rest in Peace... <3

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