Blessed

I'm really not happy with the title of this blog, but I really couldn't think of anything else to summarize such a crazy, busy, and 'giving' weekend.

It all began Friday night at the animal care center. Al and I were about finished spending time with the dogs. Al had to help our friend Betty build a escape-proof puppy run (our 7 week old pup, Sofia, is a smart cookie!) and I was about to say "good night" to one of the dogs that has been at the shelter awhile. Al went out to wash up and sign out and came running in the back telling me to hurry because "a cat is dying".

My heart jumped and I immediately thought about the time when I was about 20 or 21 and I saw a cat hit by a car and the driver drove off. I pulled over to the side of the rode, put the cat in my car and rushed to the animal hospital. The cat was meowing the entire time and I was trying to comfort it and telling it to hold on. By the time I reached the animal hospital, the cat died in my car and it's body shut down and 'relieved' itself. Not knowing then exactly what this meant, I took the cat inside the hospital trying to tell the staff what had happened. They told me that the cat had probably passed but they would go check it out. The cat had indeed died. I broke down crying. They told me that they would need $20 to dispose of it or I could take it down the street to the animal shelter and they would dispose of it for free. Not having a huge income at that age, they gave me a plastic bag with the cat in it and I had to drive it down to the shelter. I had to tell the shelter staff what had happened and again, I was crying my eyes out. In fact, I tear up EVERY time I tell the story. It still hurts.

I immediately ran out to the front of our care center and a lady was looking over a shoebox and crying. I looked in the box and the tiniest kitten was laying on it's side. It looked lifeless but there was soft breathing. I lifted it's head up and both eyes were matted shut. I slowly tried to open the eyes, but they were crusted pretty well and I didn't want to hurt it anymore. The kitten's fur was loaded with fleas. While Betty rushed to call the cat welfare team I asked the lady where she found it. She told me her two boys found it under a bush on the way home from school and they brought it home and were waiting in the car. I asked if I could go speak to them and she said yes. Both of the boys had been crying and I told them that they did a great thing bringing it home and they should be proud of themselves.

Long story short, Betty couldn't get a hold of the people that handle this type of emergency and Al was on the phone with the director of our shelter. She knew something had to be done in a hurry and that it needed to go to the 24 hour emergency hospital in Costa Mesa. We told her we could take it and about 30 minutes later, we reached the hospital and an assistant came out and took the kitten. We asked if we could wait around to see what they thought might be wrong with it. 15 minutes later another assistant came out and asked us what we wanted to name it. I immediately blurted out, "Lucky." She said that they were trying to put a catheter in and they put an oxygen mask on it. They weren't sure if it was male or female yet and we could wait until the "doctor" did some more examination on it. We waited. The assistant told us that the kitten was malnourished and anemic and was going to need a blood transfusion. We called our director and she spoke to the vet. She agreed to the transfusion and we left knowing that we did all we could do.

Saturday morning we had a big day ahead of us so if we were going to go to the shelter, it needed to be bright and early at 6 am. We got up and called the animal hospital on the way. They said that there had been a "phenomenal" difference in Lucky from the time that we brought the kitten in. They said she was female and she was vocalizing and trying to clean herself earlier. She was also only 2 months old. :( They said that she was given a second blood transfusion and may need a third and she wasn't "out of the woods yet". We will find out tomorrow how she is doing. She will hopefully be transferred to our care center's vet in Huntington Beach. I am thankful to have such a wonderful husband that didn't think twice about helping out and running the kitten to the hospital. He held the shoebox on his lap and made sure the kitten was covered with a blanket and checked on it periodically. I feel blessed that I have a husband that cares for animals. I also feel blessed that we were able to help out.

After the shelter we went home and got ready for Al's company picnic at Universal Studios. Al's company was very generous. The employees were given a ticket, friends and family were able to purchase one for $20, the company provided a great buffet lunch, valet parking and I even won a Starbucks gift card at a trivia game! It was Al's first time at the park. I've been a thousand times, but I love Universal Studios. You can get a glimpse into how movie/tv shows are made and you may even meet Beetlejuice or run into Duke from the baked beans commercial!


















We had a great day and guessed that we must have saved about $200 or so since we didn't have to pay for a thing. That was also a blessing.

We left around 5 and made the one to two hour (depending on traffic) drive to Devore to see Jason Aldean and Rascal Flatts in concert. Al won tickets a month or so ago and we had looked forward to going. After such a long day, we thought about heading home but decided to go anyway. I'm so thankful we did. Both artists put on a great show. My husband was so sweet to give into my 'need' to text every song they played to my phone so that I could blog it. But guess what? I'm too tired to get up, check both phones and type the songs! LOL Anyway, it was a great show and we were blessed to see it for free. We also feel blessed that we made it home safe and sound after such a long, tiring day. The days were rushed, long and tiring, but they were also full of blessings.

Share |