My cat doesn't know he's fat.....or How I learned knit

Okay okay, he really is fat. It would be funny until you know that his niece is also fat but our dog is lean. The difference is that the cats "free feed" and the dog gets morning and evening feedings with maybe treats in between...I say maybe!  Many moon ago I worked at a nearby Vet clinic. I loved working there despite the owner's neurotic whims and nasty temper. I got to be around dogs and cats all day every day. We even had a clinic cat named Rocky who would never ever allow anyone to pick him up except me. It drew some raised eyebrows! He would sit in my lap and purr happily while I made my conformation calls for the next days' appointments. When he was done with the whole happy cat routine, he would sneeze all over me and leap onto the counter top to stalk the clients that came and went throughout the day. Rocky was unpredictable and that is what intrigued me about him. He would have loved to get treats now and again except that he suffered from UTI's ( urinary tract infections) which proved to be his undoing. The calcium and ash contain in most foods are so high that they make little tiny pebbles....if you've ever passed a kidney stone you know. We learned Rocky was in a bad way when we noticed blood in his litter box and he new tendency to bite those unlucky enough to touch him. We made him whole again through surgery but months later it was back and worse. Everyone of the employees gathered around the surgery table and said their goodbyes and the doctor euthanized this tired, old, pain ridden cat.

The interactions with other animal mom's and dad's was made easier somehow by the passing of Rocky. What does someone say to the owner who just lost their lifetime friend and furkid? How do you handle it? All I could come up with was hugging them as they left the room in tears. Sometimes it wasn't what was needed but mostly it was always welcomed because I recognized their loss and cried with them and allowed them that moment to be a human flooded with emotions. I always asked if they needed a hug and 99% of the time, male or female, they leaned hard into and stayed wrapped up in my enormous hug. When the loss included children I always got down on the floor with them and held their hand and together we stroked their friend. I never pulled away from the importance of the moment. I told the kid/kids that it was like closing one Harry Potter book and picking up the next in the series. I don't know if I really helped anyone. It could have been that in caring about them and their loss I was only helping myself even though the departed was not mine? Because really, how can anyone be "sorry"-- most of us are just glad it's not our problem.

Sometimes our task in this world is to be that person that exposes our human side and allows others to expose theirs. Nothing more than that.

As for my two fat cats? I wonder if there's a NutraSystem for Felines?