 |
| Another kitten visit for my mom with Clancy, Fiona, and Siobhan. Like Keely and Sean Patrick, they also zeroed in on her painful arm, and stayed there for several hours. |
Today I took Sean Patrick and Keely to visit my mom. They're just a little over 3 weeks old, and I wasn't sure how they'd do separated from their mama for the first time. Sometimes kittens this age mew and mew until I have no choice but to return them to their mama and siblings. Mama Nadi had a lovely litter of 6 assorted kittens this time, and she's already taking frequent breaks from their ravenous assaults on her poor nipples. I opened the clothes cupboard where they nest on the bottom shelf and cried, "Here Babies, Here Babies!" in my expert kitten-calling voice. Sean Patrick came "running" which looks like a drunken stumble at this age-very adorable-and then Keely came wobbling up to me. I showed Nadi I was taking those two and putting them in the cat carrier, and she flapped her paw at me, and said, "Whatever. Just have 'em back by 9 pm or so. I'm gonna take a long nap on your bed."
I put a pair of Steve's pajama pants in with them since they'd been sleeping on them for 2 weeks, hoping the familiar smell would soothe them, and loaded the carrier in the car. They mewed a little, but were fairly chill on the drive over. I got them into my parent's house, and my mom looked up from her recliner at the grocery sack I was carrying and asked, jokingly, "You got KITTENS??" I showed her the cat carrier and her face lit up. "I got kittens!!" I said.
I opened the carrier door and calmly got them out and they immediately snuggled up to Mom's chest. Keely went to sleep on Mom's injured arm, and Sean Patrick wandered around on Mom a little, giving her kitten kisses, and then he went to sleep, too. Mom said, "This baby is making my arm feel so much better!" She kept talking to them and petting them, and her face was filled with the wonder and bliss that proximity to babies always gives her. And they just stayed there, absorbing her love and absorbing her pain.
I noticed my dad's face soften as he looked at her, and my constant desire to ease her chronic pain eased up a little. Mom was able to join us at the table and eat the gluten-free lasagne I'd made, enjoying a second helping, and finishing off with the delicious gluten-free vanilla cheesecake pie Dad had made. She then went back to her recliner for more kitten time. They were content to lay quietly on her while we had a nice visit, talking of nothing in particular, in that satisfying roundabout way that we do.
Mom has had an even rougher week than usual. She suffers daily from polymyalgia, severe arthritis, tummy troubles, and often getting out of bed proves too much for her. She had a bad fall last Thursday, and has been in horrific pain since then, especially her elbow, arm and ribs. She had an MRI Monday to check for stroke damage in her left eye. Good news-no new strokes, just scar tissue causing a blind spot. She had a cat scan yesterday to see what the damage is to her elbow, arm, and ribs. Is it any wonder that her spirits are often low, and she constantly fights depression and despair?
I know that my cats and kittens are as effective as a valium when I am anxious or depressed. They get my endorphins and serotonin levels up, and I totally bliss out when I'm handling kittens. It did my aching heart so much good to see those 2 little kittens do the same for my mom. Dad told me as I went out the door that that was the longest she'd been out of bed and in her recliner all week.
Great miracles can come in tiny little packages: adorable, fluffy, calico and ginger packages. Thank God for the healing power of kittens.
No comments:
Post a Comment