paraka

This bobcat kitten needed a mom, and although Sweet Pea wasn't the mother, she was the mom who stepped up.

As independent as cats would like us to think that they are, we know better. We know that our cats are spoiled to heck and love every second of it. We know that they would not survive out there in the world without us. Of course, maybe that would have been somewhat different had they grown up as outdoor stray cats, but they weren't. And since they have been with us since kittenhood, they need us. All kittens need mothers, and that is true for more than just house cats. It's true for bobcats as well. 

Unfortunately, this baby bobcat has lost his momma. We don't know what happened to her. All we know is that she was with her baby, and then a storm hit, and the next morning, she could not be found again. And the bobcat was left alone. Defenseless, in need of a mother, and not knowing what to do. It was luck that a kind human rescued this bobcat kitten in time. And it was even bigger luck that on the same day that this bobcat was brought into the shelter, a stray momma cat with her five kittens had been rescued as well. 

Four cats a week before your wedding? Sounds just like a fairytale. 

When you're an impending bride, there's an aura of magic that surrounds you and everything you do. Everywhere you go has a luminous glow, and a quiet enchantment to it. Everyday life suddenly feels like you're in the midst of a fairytale. The weeks before a wedding time seems to be held between standing still and going too fast. Seemingly ordinary moments feel imbued with meaning, magic, and messages. Maybe the world knows something important and wants you to know. Your every day is enlightened by the love you have for your soon-to-be spouse. In this liminal space, anticipation is magical in and of itself. You are still fully yourself, still moving through routines and responsibilities but there is an undercurrent of becoming the bride you always wanted to be. As you finalize decisions surrounding your wedding you feel the symbolic weight of everything. These rituals are  setting the stage for the rest of your life with your love. Even logistic parts of wedding planning carry emotional weight, because they are tethered to a future that feels suddenly tangible. 

Imagine being in that kind of headspace and you stumble upon four lost kittens. It much feel like a fairytale, to see all these kittens curled up together in nature, dozing off happily together as they look up at you with their nuptial eyes. What possible meaning could it have that this woman found four homeless kittens just a mere week before her wedding? In the story, she claims that one of her neighbors must have dropped them off when he went to move, and she severely reprimands his actions. She found the kittens and when they were well enough, she took them in. Even their mom came out and wanted to be adopted. Everyone in the story praises her for taking them, and acknowledges that it's extra special as a wedding gift. 

The fastest way to heal a broken heart is to fall in love again.

All of us will have to deal with the rainbow bridge sooner or later. It's the circle of life, and as sad as endings are, they are also the doorway to new beginnings. We're not saying that to tell you that it should be easy, far from it. Every family member, including your other pets, feels the loss of a cat, and it hits some of them harder than others. The cat in our story today was devastated after losing his senior sibling. Months passed, and his condition hadn't improved. But then, they were alerted to a local woman who had a litter of kittens she was giving away, and they decided it was finally time to start over again.

The new kitten healed the cat's broken heart, as his pawrents walked in on them cuddling in the sweetest way. They were purrfectly embraced. You could purractically feel the joy in his tiny, furry body over having another cat to love and share everything with. 

It's not uncommon to see cats sleeping piled on top of each other, but these two are doing it differently. They are literally spooning, with the now older brother pawsitively enveloping the baby kitten and protecting them with his paws. It's quite pawssibly the cutest thing we've seen in a long time.

Everyone heals from grief differently. Some need to focus on something new, and others need time to process. But what we can all agree on is that getting a new cat will never erase the old one. His memory will live on furrever in all of our hearts, which are now filled with joy again with the excitement of a new beginning.