Sleep Softly, Little Noah

On the morning of October 20th, I received an email from Jerry and Mike, who live in a small town in Illinois. The couple have two grown cats of their own, and Mike had recently befriended a young female stray, who had given birth that morning. They wanted to thank me for information they found on my site on pregnancy and birth during their traumatic and unexpected introduction to "midwifing" a cat.

Wanda, as they had named the mother cat, was little more than a kitten herself, and did not deserve the pain of birth, nor the loss of the three kittens that were stillborn, because of a former "owner's" failure to have her spayed. Through their valiant efforts, Mike and Jerry were able to successfully deliver one kitten, who was much smaller than the others.

Since I felt a vested interest in this tiny baby, but am 2,000 miles away, I "Googled" a search for cat rescue groups in their area, and suggested they contact one of them for information and possibly for assistance in getting Wanda spayed, and for nurturing the kitten, which had been rejected by Wanda. Mike and Jerry subsequently got in touch with Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary, and those kind people put them in touch with a local veterinarian, Dr. Dykstra. Mike and Jerry bottle-fed the kitten and fussed and worried over him for two weeks.

Yesterday, the couple had to call on Dr.Dykstra because the kitten, who they had named Noah, seemed to be failing. Dr. Dykstra met them in his clinic on a Sunday, gave little Noah dextroxe-laced fluids, and sent them home with more fluids to give him. This morning I received the sad news that little Noah had lost his valiant fight some time after 3:00 a.m.

He was just a tiny two week old kitten - a small, seemingly insignificant being in the larger scheme of life. But he left behind a giant-sized hole in the hearts of at least three people who cared for him.

Little Noah will be buried today, next to a blue spruce tree in Mike and Jerry's yard. The tree is symbolic of shelter, and close to their home so he can return whenever he wants.

Mike and Jerry will keep Wanda, and she has an appointment to be spayed so that this kind of tragedy will not repeat itself again in their home. They are also going to volunteer for Noah's Ark, in part as thanks for their assistance, but mostly because that's just the kind of people they are.

Sleep softly, little Noah. May your story inspire others to take care of that spay or neuter they've been putting off. Your short life will then not have been in vain.