Missing Him and Welcoming Her.....

Well, Friday was an emotional roller coaster day. We took Djinn in for that awful decision we almost all have to make for our fur kids when it's time to help them pass over without pain. I wish we could be that compassionate for each other. His passing was probably the hardest one I have ever been present for. He purred the entire time until he was gone. Even the vet had tears because he had greeted him with a headbutt. It was so very hard.

I miss him terribly and going to sleep has been especially hard  without his presence on my pillow and his purrs. And my heart aches for that emptiness. I really loved him so very much, as I have all my soul mates that have chosen to share their love and soul with me. Djinn, you are missed greatly, I am sad and glad to have been able to help you pass without pain and with dignity and grace, I love you dearly little man.

After our heartbreaking morning we got the call that our new chairs had arrived at the warehouse in Albuquerque, hubby felt this might be a good thing for us to get out of the house for awhile. Well..... one thing led to another.

While he was loading the chairs in the trailer, I remembered an article link that a friend had posted on Facebook about the Albquerque Animal Welfare (Shelter etc.) had received 61 cats earlier in the week, and I had shared the link with my husband. And although we weren't going to bring a new soul home before Djinn's passing, I intuitively felt I should go see anyway. So I looked up the address links that were also provided to me, and Google mapped them. The main one was not overly far from where we were on the westside of town. So when he got back into the vehicle I asked if we could go see. He said ok.

So, off we went. We went into the young cats cattery there. I figured that we should look at a younger cat, at least less than a year. This was primarily because of how non-aggressive Yummy is to kittens, especially females. However, I went in there looking for males because pretty much all of my other soul mates have been male. I've never had a female kitty pick me or bond with me before.

I found two males in a corner area of the kennel, one was around 2 years and lovely markings, however when I put my hand up to him and the door, he pretty much ignored me. So I looked at his neighbor, a young black and white male kitten around 6 months in age. He was more willing to have attention paid to him, but neither of them really paid attention until my husband came over closer. When he got closer, they became very animated and clamored for attention. I asked the staff if I could hold the younger male first. Well, he really didn't want to be held and I could feel that there wasn't a connection with him so I let him back into his kennel. The older male was fine, but there was no connection there either. So, I proceeded around the kennels. Nothing really caught my eye until I came to one with a tiny silver tabby female cowering in the corner hissing at everyone.

We asked the female staff person in there about her. She said that she had been a stray but was getting more social. She usually hissed at everyone thought it was more bluff than feralness. She also noted to us that she was only able to get her to purr once. About that time a male staffer changed places with the woman. I asked to hold the little thing they were calling Dora. Well she hissed at him a little, but not me and I immediately started doing some tTouch and reiki with her. She snuggled into my arms and took to the touch like a duck to water. I was near tears at this point. And about then she moved around to tuck her head under my chin and neck and started purring to the astonishment of all staff. It really was all I could do to hold the tears back. And she purred a bit harder. Then something wonderful opened up, the connection and her name came through to me, and I was certain of it, Jasmine. A sweet name for a beautiful little kitten.

We asked the staff if I could take her home that day. He noted she had not been spayed yet or had her rabies vaccination and he gave me her kennel number and went off to ask the vet if we could take her and have our vet spay her at home. He came right back and said that if I really wanted her, they could spay her right then. So we said ok. However, she did not want to unattach herself from me and go with the gentleman for her spay. He headed out the door with her and we went back to the front offices to fill out paperwork and pay her adoption fees.

Getting all that done, we were told to come back around 4pm to pick her up and that she was still too young to have her rabies vaccination so we would have to have our veterinarian give her that when it was time and mail them a copy of the certificate.

Off we went for some lunch until we went back to pick her up. When we got back to pick her up, we happened to sit next to another woman and her son. She saw the picture on the paperwork in my hand and made a comment about how they had looked at her and she hissed and cowered from them and that she would need an awful lot of work to socialize and tame her. My husband calmly replied that we hadn't found that to be true at all. 

When it came our turn the vet assistant mentioned that she was just going to put her in the carry box as she wasn't very awake yet. So we signed our receipts, and took our little girl out the door. It was then that my husband noted that we should probably make sure we had the correct animal in the box. So I very gently opened one end and looked in. She looked up at me with fear in her little eyes until she recognized me and you could see the visible relief in her eyes.

Of course there is an adjustment period to acquaint her with the other pets and our household. However the first night for me was very painful. I sharply felt Djinn's loss on my pillow and his purrs that enabled me to sleep. I cried, and cried myself to sleep. It had been a long emotional day and I was running on less than 3 hours of sleep. Poor Yummy, bless his little heart. He must not have slept at all that night, he was going to check on her constantly in her kennel for the night and if I stirred or woke up he was cuddling me purring. Needless to say he spent most of yesterday racked out. He wants so badly to mother Jasmine, and she's not really sure about him yet, so she growls and hisses at him. And he is so patient and gentle around her. He also talks to her a lot, and is never far from her.

Last night we had her in the TV room with us and watched her learn to play with the cat toys for the first time in her life. We were both pretty much grinning stupidly I fear. This morning however, I picked her up and she cuddled with me and purred and slept in my arms for the better part of close to 3 hours. Hard to type one handed. Several times she'd stir and look up at me and touch noses. At one point she actually mewled at me, and it was such a tiny little sound, I was amazed. And it melted my heart into this big puddle of goo. Ah yup, my sister in-law was right, wasn't going to be any time at all that she would have me wrapped around her little paw.

It's been a up and down day I'll have to say. And holding her helps me with the pain of Djinn's absence. We'll see how it all goes. But for now she's safe and has a warm home with all the food she might want.