CAPTION: Callie pokes her head out the carrier after receiving a senior wellness exam at the vet clinic in 2007.In life and death, feline friend teaches lessons
By Arden Moore
Fifteen years ago, my co-worker Diego brought an itty-bitty calico kitten into the newsroom at the Sun-Sentinel’s office in Delray Beach. Diego knew I was looking to adopt a kitten and he found this one dodging cars on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami.
You know what happened next. Naturally, I took one look and became smitten by this kitten. On the spot, I dubbed her Callie. OK, not so original for a calico, but the name just fit.
She was so tiny that she could fit in a food bowl but so agile that she could scale my drapes in less than three seconds. Not being weaned completely, she needed bottle feeding and lots of veterinary visits to ensure she was growing at a healthy pace.
Through the years, Callie served as my one constant during life’s milestones. She has been by my side during three career changes, eight relocations, five other pets and, yes, a handful of personal relationships. For the past decade, she has gamely joined me when it was necessary to have a feline sidekick during speaking events and book tours. She flew with me to New York City, never emitting a single mew during the flight for a three-day media blitz for my book, The Cat Behavior Answer Book. She happily perched on her favorite blanket inside the docked Queen Mary in Long Beach, Calif., while I delivered a “why-cats-do-what-they-do” speech to members of the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters. She has tolerated curious children at elementary school assemblies and welcomed the arrival of my 60-pound dog, Chipper without a single hiss.
At age 12, Callie conquered feline hyperthyroidism thanks to radioactive iodine treatment that necessitated her being quarantined at the veterinary hospital for a week. I kept tabs on her by viewing Web cam images on my computer. I jokingly called her “Rally Callie” because she seemed to bounce back from various ailments during her senior years. Recently, however, Callie’s rapid weight loss and sudden refusal to beg for her favorite treat prompted the visit to my veterinarian. Tests, including an ultrasound, verified the diagnosis. My 15-year-old calico was dying from a fast-growing mass in her pancreas. I took a pass on exploratory surgery, but all signs pointed to pancreatic cancer. Yep, the same disease that claimed the life of actor Patrick Swayze. Now what?
“Let’s give her medicine to try to stimulate her appetite and give her some subcutaneous fluids to address her dehydration,” said Mary Gibbs, DVM, a veterinarian who has cared for Callie for nearly a decade. How long does Callie have?
“Days, maybe weeks. It’s hard to say,” replied Dr. Gibbs. “At this point, let’s keep Callie comfortable. She will let you know when it’s time.” In her dying weeks, I opted to pay tribute to Callie, and to help others coping with ailing pets, by creating a 10-part video series on YouTube called Callie’s Ninth Life. The episodes capture Callie’s momentary appetite revival and her playfully positioning herself in front of my computer monitor to get me to stop typing the final goodbye in the vet exam room, with her pet pals Murphy, Cleo and Chipper present.
Callie taught me many life lessons, including to be candid, to live in the now and to greet each morning with a full-body stretch.
Her final lesson: our departed pets are gone but never forgotten.
To watch this series, please go to: www.youtube.com/user/ArdenMooreKnowsPets. or here: http://thecoastalstar.ning.com/video/callies-ninth-life-finalArden Moore, an animal behavior consultant, editor, author and professional speaker, happily shares her home with two dogs, a cat and one overworked vacuum cleaner. Tune in to her Oh Behave! show on Pet Life Radio.com and contact her at arden@ardenmoore.com.
Thank you so much for sharing your celebration of Callie's life. We just adopted a kitten, Channah Esther, as a special birthday present for our 8-year old dachshund, Madison Hamlet. Its only been 3-weeks and they have become best friends. The great joy of having pets and spoiling them makes losing them so difficult, however, it is truly better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all! Thanks, again, Terry
Comments
Thank you so much for sharing your celebration of Callie's life. We just adopted a kitten, Channah Esther, as a special birthday present for our 8-year old dachshund, Madison Hamlet. Its only been 3-weeks and they have become best friends. The great joy of having pets and spoiling them makes losing them so difficult, however, it is truly better to have loved and lost than never have loved at all! Thanks, again, Terry