You’re taking your cat for a walk!?
TL;DR This post isn’t about TryHackMe, home labbing, creating cyber ranges, it’s not even about IT. It’s about one of the other things that goes on here at test.local.
Nature can be cruel sometimes. Georgie got FIPs that mutated, and despite receiving the best care that money can buy he was taken from us far too soon last week. He was loved, spoiled rotten, and lived his best life for the all too short time he had.
Background
I know that some may read this and think “WTH is Rich on about!? He was just a cat.”
Maybe it’s because he was our original foster, our first foster fail, and died far too young. Maybe it’s because in my mind he represents all kittens taken far too soon like Olivia & Rinn. Hell maybe it’s because I stood in far too many ramp ceremonies downrange and far too many memorial services. I don’t know, but I do know that to me his loss is far, far more than just him.
In my life I have lost too many unit members, have seen/heard too many family members wail during stateside ramp ceremonies, have seen too many cases where I thought “that could have easily been me”, etc.
I think I have earned the right to grieve Georgie however I want to.
Here at test.local we’re not just a home lab, we’re also a cross between fosters and a small scale animal rescue.
The wife is the driving force behind the operation, I just help carry stuff, accompany them to vet visits, clean litter boxes, love on them, and work an IT job that pays for all this.
I wasn’t even a ‘Cat Guy’ before all this. For ‘God Only Knows’ what reasons “Scripting Cat” decided I was her human after we got her from the shelter. She’d been a feral cat, raised other’s kittens at the shelter, and no one had wanted her.
She now often sits on the armrest next to me while I bang away in the home lab late into the night.
The first fosters
Georgie, Chester, and “Little Gray” came to us in the spring of last year. They weren’t old enough to be adoptable yet and were still bottle feeding. Apparently their mom had been hit by a car. They were all flea ridden. “Little Gray” didn’t make it through the first night.
We “foster failed” the surviving brothers.
Chester looked like a cat the wife used to have, and we couldn’t keep him without his brother. Chester grew up like a cross between a baby and a cat. Georgie grew up like a cross between a baby, a dog, and a cat.
Georgie was one in a million
Most cats are highly skilled at naps and looking cute. Some like going outside, either inside a ‘catio’ or while closely supervised of course.
Georgie was always different. He loved car rides, walks, and just going places.
He also loved watching planet earth on the big screen TV.
A lady walking the other direction once surprisingly exclaimed when she looked down “you’re taking your cat on a walk!?”
In memory of Georgie
I didn’t know it at the time of course, but this funny picture of Georgie and his brother Chester getting tangled up would be the last pic I took of them together.
Nature is cruel sometimes. Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) is a serious viral disease in cats caused by a mutation of the feline coronavirus (FCoV). Sadly it happened to Georgie. We took him into the vet when he showed sympotoms, they confirmed it, and he went into the ICU.
Tragically the medicine for FIPs is still new and vets, at least in our area, don’t keep it in stock. I don’t know if the few days in shipping ultimately mattered or not, but it might matter for the next beloved cat.
Summary
Georgie was loved, and he’s dearly missed. His time with us was far too short but it was the best life we could give him and perhaps the best a cat can have.
His brother Chester is living his best life, almost. They say that cats bond, and he’s missing his sibling.
We got the card below from the vet who diagnosed Georgie.
I will close with two poems/passages that have I grown to love shortly after we started fostering.
From https://www.bordercolliesinneed.org/reading/poems/fostering-poems.html
I am the bridge
Between what was and what can be.
I am the pathway to a new life.
I am made of mush,
Because my heart melted
When I saw you,
Matted and sore, limping, depressed,
Lonely, unwanted, afraid to love.
For one little time you are mine.
I will feed you with my own hand
I will love you with my whole heart
I will make you whole.
I am made of steel.
Because when the time comes,
When you are well and sleek,
When your eyes shine,
And your tail wags with joy -
Then comes the hard part.
I will let you go-- not without a tear,
But without a regret.
For you are safe forever.
A new [cat] needs me now.
- Diane Morgan, Basset Hound Rescue“The Rescuer’s Final Reward” by Benny Archuleta
Unlike most days at the Rainbow Bridge, this day dawned cold and gray.
All the recent arrivals at the Bridge did not know what to think,
as they had never seen such a day.
But the animals who had been waiting longer for their beloved people
to accompany them across the Bridge knew what was happening,
and they began to gather at the pathway leading to the Bridge.
Soon an elderly dog came into view, head hung low and tail dragging.
He approached slowly, and though he showed no sign of injury or illness,
he was in great emotional pain. Unlike the animals gathered along the pathway,
he had not been restored to youth and vigor upon arriving at the Bridge.
He felt out of place, and wanted only to cross over and find happiness.
But as he approached the Bridge, his way was barred by an angel, who
apologized and explained that the tired and broken-spirited old dog could
not cross over. Only those animals accompanied by their people were allowed
to cross the Bridge. Having nobody, and with nowhere else to turn,
the dog trudged into the field in front of the Bridge.
There he found others like himself, elderly or infirm, sad and
discouraged. Unlike the other animals waiting to cross the Bridge,
these animals were not running or playing. They simply were lying in the grass,
staring forlornly at the pathway across the Rainbow Bridge.
The old dog took his place among them, watching the pathway and waiting.
yet not knowing for what he was waiting.
One of the newer dogs at the Bridge asked a cat who had been there
longer to explain what was happening. The cat replied,
"Those poor animals were abandoned, turned away, or left at rescue places,
but never found a home on earth.
They all passed on with only the love of a rescuer to comfort them.
Because they had no people to love them,
they have nobody to escort them across the Rainbow Bridge."
The dog asked the cat, "So what will happen to those animals?" Before
the cat could answer, the clouds began to part and the cold turned to
bright sunshine. The cat replied, "Watch, and you will see."
In the distance was a single person, and as he approached the Bridge the
old, infirm and sad animals in the field were bathed in a golden light.
They were at once made young and healthy, and stood to see what their fate
would be. The animals who had previously gathered at the pathway bowed
their heads as the person approached. At each bowed head, the person
offered a scratch or hug. One by one, the now youthful and healthy animals
from the field fell into line behind the person. Together, they walked
across the Rainbow Bridge to a future of happiness and unquestioned love.
The dog asked the cat, "What just happened?"
The cat responded, "That was a rescuer. The animals gathered along the
pathway bowing in respect were those who had found their forever homes
because of rescuers. They will cross over when their people arrive at the
Bridge. The arrival here of a rescuer is a great and solemn event, and as a
tribute they are permitted to perform one final act of rescue. They are
allowed to escort all those poor animals they couldn't place
on earth across the Rainbow Bridge."
The dog thought for a moment, then said, "I like rescuers." The cat
smiled and replied, "So does heaven, my friend. So does heaven
I miss Georgie terribly, and as a religious person I believe I will see him again someday.
Remember me with smiles not tears,
for all the joy through all the years.
Recall the closeness that was ours,
A love as “sweet” as fragrant flowers.
Don’t dwell on thoughts that cause you pain,
We’ll see each other once again.
I am at peace… try to believe,
It was my time… I had to leave.
But “what a view” I have from here,
I see your face, I feel you near.
I follow you throughout the day,
You’re not alone along the way.
And when God calls you…you will be,
Right by my side… right here with me.
Till then, I’ll wait by heaven’s door,
We’ll be united… evermore.
I was just a kitten when we first met, I loved you from the start.
You picked me up and took me home, and placed me in your heart.
Good times we had together, we shared all life could throw.
But years passed all too quickly, my time has come to go.
I know how much you miss me, I know your heart is sore.
I see the tears that fall, when I'm not waiting at the door.
You always did your best for me, Your love was plain to see.
For even though it broke your heart, You set my spirit free.
So please be brave without me, one day we'll meet once more.
For when you're called to heaven, I'll be waiting at the door.Additional notes after originally posting this
It’s been 3 months and I still miss Georgie terribly. I think about him almost daily. I have exited an aircraft in flight at around 1,200 feet AGL twice since he died and both times I calmed my nerves by thinking “well if all goes fine then I go home and see Chester, if not then I go see Georgie again”.
I know that you can't see me
But trust me I'm right here.
Although I'm up in heaven,
My love for you stays near.
So often I see you crying,
Many times you call my name.
I want so much to lick your face
And ease some of your pain.
I wish that I could make you see
That Heaven indeed is real.
If you could see me run and play
How much better you would feel.
But our loving God has promised me
That when the time is right,
You'll step out of the darkness
And meet me in the light.
When tomorrow starts without me,
And I'm not there to see,
The sun will rise and find your eyes,
All filled with tears for me.
I know how much you loved me,
As much as I loved you,
And each time that you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too.
When tomorrow starts without me,
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name,
And petted me with her hand.
I thought about our lives together,
I know you must be sad,
I thought of all the love we shared,
And all the fun we had.
So when tomorrow starts without me,
Don't think we're far apart,
For every time you think of me,
I'm right there in your heart.I named a 4 mile run route I do sometimes that finishes by the lake in the picture at the top of this post ‘Georgie’s Run’. Every time I do that run I hang out by the lake afterwards and tell Georgie, or The Universe if you will, that I still miss him and I’ll always love him.
Chester, our first foster, our first foster fail, and the sole survivor of his litter, is now spoiled even more than he already was. At the time I took Georgie on his last walk I didn’t know it. Hence pretty much every time Chester wants to go somewhere he gets to.
I see his brother in him. He’s not the same of course, but he’s quite similar. I still call him his brother’s name by accident sometimes. He doesn’t seem to mind.
The first time I took Chester on a nature walk down by that lake he was a bit nervous initially. He quickly began to enjoy it though, and when I went to put him back in the cat backpack to leave he didn’t want to go. It’s almost like he felt his brother’s presence there the way I do.
References
FIPs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_infectious_peritonitis
FIP treatment GS-441524: https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/fip-treatment-gs-441524-now-available-us
Spay & Neuter your pets: https://veterinary.rossu.edu/about/blog/why-spay-and-neuter-pets
Fostering: https://www.aspcapetinsurance.com/resources/how-to-foster-pets/
