My daughter and her husband are both soft hearted when it comes to animals. (She didn't stand a chance, both her parents are that way.) Her border collie and his cat are their substitute children.
Last week, they noticed that a cat started coming up to their house. It was an apparent stray and they gave it some food. (Not a criticism, I've done that, too.) It became clear from her comments to me that they had been adopted. The cat might wander off some, but kept coming back to the only place it was receiving food, water, and affection. They were cautious and kept it outside until they could get it checked. It slept on the hood of whichever car was in the carport and she e-mailed a funny picture of the cat on the roof of her car.
The other night, she took "Sam" to the vet. When she popped up on Windows Messenger, I said "You're back home!" (they had been staying away from the house while a prospective buyer looked at it) and she replied, "Yeah, but the cat isn't."
The vet had found she had feline AIDS and feline leukemia. Her immune system was almost completely gone and she had respiratory and eyes infections and was very weak. They agreed that the only thing to do was have her put to sleep, which was done.
I told her that we were proud of both of them. I think from her attitude around humans, that Sam was a former pet who had been dumped, possibly when someone found out about her condition. I told her that they had comforted this cat in her final days, protected their own cat by taking precautions, and then released her from her suffering. They had protected the helpless. I reminded her of the famous question of a few years ago, "WWJD?" I told her, "what you two did." They protected the helpless. They took the risk of loving that cat, and gained the opportunity to do the right thing. Despite the hurt, which is real, they can take pride in that.
I guess mom and dad didn't do too badly...
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