Show us your pets!

[bmccasland]

Sometimes life just sucks. I happened to take today off, and finally got my porch kitty, Patches, to the Vet to get her shots. I've been feeding her for several months, slowly making friends. My vet said that I could bring her in without an appointment and they'd work her in for shots if I dropped her off. Since she's semi-feral, they tested her for feline HIV, and she was positive. And since she's was a sweet cooperative kitty, they drew more blood and tested her again, still positive.

Patches is (was) a neighborhood kitty that a neighbor started feeding after Hurricane Katrina. Near as we can tell she was probably someone's cat that got turned out when they evacuated and then lost in the storm, and she found her way to Vicki's house, and then eventually to mine. Amazingly she absolutely loved dogs. Somewhere along the way Patches was spayed (her ear was clipped). She got named "Patches" because when Vicki started feeding her, she was missing a lot of fur and her white under coat was showing in big patches.

So today, she had to be put to sleep, but she was petted and loved on to the end. Then I brought her home and buried her in the garden like a kitty with a proper home should be. But she died well fed, with a satiny coat. I just couldn't fix everything.

Her she is on one of her rare visits to the inside, back when the weather was cooler and I had the back door open. Obviously making herself at home, albeit briefly. She never would stay inside for very long. I just couldn't convince her life is better inside: