It's all so quiet

It's just Suki and me now, in our room

The whole house has been unusually quiet today.  It is so strange, when Vixey was around, all she did was to sit on the router, and she hardly made any noise at all.  Yet, her presence was felt very strongly.

Now that she is gone, suddenly, the house is so, so quiet and still.  The air of melancholy is still prevalent.  And Indy has been exceptionally quiet the whole day, too.  Suki, on the other hand, has been acting a bit crankily. 

I remember reading an article that cats do grieve when someone dies in the colony.  They grieve, just as we do. 

What I miss most of all is seeing Vixey on the router as I do my work in the room.  I also miss the mornings when I come downstairs and Vixey would always be there at the foot of the stairs waiting for me without fail.  Then, we would play our little hide-and-seek.

And I would certainly miss hearing Vixey jump down from the router each time I change the water bowl.  Vixey loved fresh water.  She only drank fresh water and she taught Indy that, too.

And, in all the emails I have written today, I still write about Vixey in the present tense.  I had to make the effort to change all the verbs into past tense. 

Just now, Terry dropped in to pay respects to Vixey.  I was deeply touched at this very kind gesture.  Terry is an epitome of compassion, and I am very glad both he and Teresa have volunteered to help AnimalCare now.  We definitely need sincere people who are committed to helping animals.

Terry just brought 4 kittens and one cat for a check-up at our panel vet this afternoon.  He will be fostering all of them, and when ready, we will put them up for adoption.

We have some sad news too - Apache did not make it.  I called the rescuer just now, and she said Apache passed away last night.  Sigh...we tried our best and gave her our best.  She seemed ok after one night with me, but with kittens, you can never tell.  They go down extremely fast.  Apache was already quite weak to begin with.  The faecal matter stuck in her colon (probably for 1-2 weeks) had already caused considerable damage.  In fact, the vet did suggest euthanasia, but he knew I would never resort to that, so he did everything possible for her.  Apache only had two days with us, but it was two days of love and care, so I hope that made a difference in her life.  Sometimes try as we do, we just cannot save a life, but at least we've managed to touch their little hearts with gentleness and compassion.   

And life has to go on.  This week, we have a few neutering cases.  We will be helping two new rescuers to get their animals neutered.

Our tshirts are expected to be ready in a few days' time.  The supplier is from Penang.  Once ready, I will inform all of you who have ordered and you can start collecting the tshirts from me then.