Iron Giant and Small Cat

Grief and relief

The love of this cat is in my body. The softness of the fur, the deep rumble of his purr, a smell that’s like nothing else, sweet and soothing, and beauty, beauty of face and tail, long-furred paws and a Rorschach pattern of black and silver across his back, deep ‘W’ on his head. The warmth of his body and softness, so soft, like liquid in my hands. The love of him runs deep.

A week and a half ago, I was crying my way through the ending of the animated film “Iron Giant”, when I wondered: What am I crying about?

Seven weeks before, my daughter saw a 5-month-old kitten in the small adoption closet at a local pet store. He was beautiful. So we asked to meet him and he stole our hearts instantly. He was in the process of being dewormed, so couldn’t bring him home right away, but each of us visited the store daily to say hello.

After a week he finally tested negative for worms and we brought him home. Our office, “the Blue Room”, was his designated way station for 1-2 weeks for the slow (through the door) introduction to our senior cat, Howl. The cat formerly known as Prince (renamed Pippin) was entertained alternately by each of three adults as often as we could, but was also left alone for patches of time, especially overnight. At first, he was shy and needed to be coaxed out with toys. Soon he was snuggling with us. We discovered he enjoys playing fetch, and hide n seek (no easy task in a small room!). And, most adorably, he would stand on the desk and reach up his large furry paws for a hug.

After one week he was tested again, and, needed treatment again. That stretched into two weeks, then four, then surprise! A possible positive for toxoplasma gondii. This alone in a young cat is not alarming, it’s very common and isn’t always accompanied by illness. But it is contagious and for the immunocompromised, like our senior cat, it could be deadly.

Our house is too small to consider keeping both cats separate for the rest of Howl’s life, so we realized we might have to give Pippin back.

Sorrow hit, an echo in a well, a great oh, no!

Pippin had lived in too many places; a parking lot, in foster care, at the busy pet store, and with us. The idea he would have to adapt yet again, at least twice more felt unfair. We were responsible for his happiness, but also Howl’s so there was no good choice.

There was one more test to confirm or rule out what Pippin had, and we had to wait.

It was a very long week. The vet said it would take three or four days for the results, so Wednesday was out. Thursday was very tense, and in the afternoon I called and left a message. Friday came and it was much the same. And finally, late afternoon, in the checkout line of a grocery store, I got the call. Pippin was clear!

At the end of “Iron Giant”, (spoiler!) the giant robot sacrifices himself for the boy he’s come to love and for the town he landed in. As he flies to his doom, he thinks about what the boy told him, you are who you choose to be and he says to himself, “I’m Superman”.

The answer to my question, why am I crying, was old grief, as well as the anticipated kind. And it was also from relief. We’d been rescued by love.

We could keep him. Pippin was ours.

Hope you enjoyed this month’s saga. We have great news coming on two fronts, so keep your eyes open! And, if you happened here and aren’t subscribed, what are you waiting for? You can’t beat the price. FREE.

Thanks, and have a happy Spring!