Derek,
Thanks for the picture and story.
A few years ago, when my son was a little guy (now he is 21), his kitty passed away suddenly. I decided when the time was right, I would take him to the pound to get another. So we went to the pound and he picked out this darling young female that looked a lot like a squirrel in color and he named her, Monet. She had the sniffles and sneezes so I thought it best to get to the vet asap and separate her out of our pet family. It turned out that beautiful Monet had kitty leukemia. We had two other cats in the family and were advised to get rid of her since it is contagious to other kitties, but Monet could live a long life with the disease.
I searched for about three days trying to find a resolution for Monet. Finally my search turned up a solution. There was this lady that lived way up in the mountains of Georgia (we lived near Atlanta at the time), that operated a kitty leukemia home. I contacted her and assured her a decent donation if she could take care of precious Monet.
So my son and I drove for about two hours in the snow and ice finding this nice lady and her home for sick kitties. Poor Monet had been separated in a cage in the other side of our home and would only be out for some lov'in every now and then, so I was anxious to set her free, but sad at the same time. It all turned out well as the kitty home was acceptable to my standards and there were a lot of happy kitties living there!
My son I think, learned a valuable lesson on the appreciation and care for animals. Just this year, he called me from the pound in Tallahassee (where we live now), and told me he wanted to adopt this huge red tabby he wanted to name Baron, but since he is a college student he needed help with vet bills since his first stop the next morning would be at my vet's office for a complete check up. My kid knows that I have a huge spot in my heart for pound babies, so of course Baron has been added onto my vet account along with my five dogs and one cat.
If I had my life to do over, I would definitely be doing something similar to what that wonderful lady in the Georgia mountains was doing. I often thought of Monet and missed her sweet soul. I am happy knowing that she knew she was loved.
Thanks again for posting the picture and the story!
Kind regards,
Darr