Children of Bast in Need of Help
Submitted by Jamie Robertson on November 14, 2007 - 11:57
Hi all, I received a very distressing email this morning from a friend of a reader who is in need of help. I remember how generous you all were when I had my cats, so I thought I'd post this here. Instead of trying to describe the situation, I'll just post the email in its entirety. Thanks!
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Hi Jamie.... you dont know me but I think I was led to you for a very good reason, and I would like to share this story with you to see if you may have any ideas for me. This is the thing (I am going to copy a series of emails in now, so you can see whats up....)I also posted this on the forum at Clan of the cats. What do you think?
hey everyone! I'm in a bit of a muddle, actually a big mess, and would love it if you all could send a bit of healing energy and some clarifying light... here's the story...
recently i discovered that a young mama kitty had two kittens in the shed behind my studio. The kittens were wild and unapproachable, but i began feeding them in hopes of catching them and getting them vetted, then placed in foster care or homes.
three days ago when I brought their food out, one of the kittens was visible but not the other. Usually the mama is not there at all or will not come out until i leave. the one kitten, instead of going right for the food, kept meowing at me as if expressing distress, and I could hear the other kitten somewhere, in some kind of pain. I found it laying immobile in a pile of leaves. I scooped her up and rushed her to my vet, but she passed away shortly after we arrived there. There was no sign of injury, but she did have a disdended abdomen and literally thousands of fleas.
So then set a have a heart trap in hopes of catching the other baby lest she was suffering the same whatever...caught the mama once by accident and had to let her go. Yesterday the other kitten fell for the trap. Unfortunately, my young apprentice katy discovered the kitten first, and without thinking things through, opened the trap and reached in to pick up a frantic and terrified kitten who had never been handled by a human ever. As the story goes, Katy got bitten several times.
katy went to the hospital, kitten to vet. There have been two reported cases of rabies in this area in the past few months. The vet assumes that it was a provoked bite, not likely rabid. the other kitten was frozen after death, and can no longer be tested for rabies. The options for the surviving kitten are 10 day observation, costing 250 dollars, or immediate euthanization, sending brain tissue to the lab for testing.
the doctors take on things is find out right away at any cost. Katy has two days before she will need to undergo rabies shots, if there is no proof that this kitten is not rabid. She was going to adopt the kitty and feels terrible and responsible for the little one's fate. She wants to leave the kitty in observation, but cant afford the bill. I suuggested that I would do what I could to pay, (though im broke too, )but ultimately it is the decision of her as to what should be done.
Now Im wondering if I should have offered that. Am I adding to the confusion of what is the right thing to do here. Should we risk her health, her life, for this kitten? What is my place in this mess by interfering in the situation to begin with, though my intentions were nothing but good for this young family of cats. i feel horrible about the whole thing and am losing much sleep. I can think of nothing else it seems, right now. I need guidance. Or at least some kind of magickal cyberhug. Bast is creeeping around my studio doing her best. In fact just as this whole thing started, three days ago exactly, my other apprentice Shantida sat right here in my studio designing a Bast tattoo for herself, assumingly unrelated at the time. What does that mean? I cant figure out the lesson....meh.
I wont be back at my computer for a couple of days probably, but I would apppreciate your responses anyway.a different perspective, any perspective at all. I have some personal health issues of my own that I need to tend to right now, and will be home resting. or trying to anyway.
bless you all.
meredith
A RETURN POST FROM A FRIEND (AND WHY IM HERE)
" Why not try a fundraiser for Bast?
Seriously... in the ancient days of yore the gods and goddesses had temples and people tithed to them. There may not be too many devotees of Bast publicly visible these days, but there's a whole lot of cat lovers who'd get a kick out of doing it as an offering to Bast. I'd donate $10 via paypal. If there's 24 other people like me, you'll have $250 in no time. The true offering to Bast of course is saving the kittens life. Besides promoting it on noreastweb, I'd suggest emailing the creator of Clan of the Cats webcomic www.clanofthecats. com , which is a cat-loving pagan webcomic. Jamie's highlighted the plight of other cats in the past. I don't know Jamie personally, but I've been a reader of the comic for over five years.
Let me know where to send my $10.
Zay "
AND THEN MY REPLY....
___Hi everyone.
I'm back at my desk today and was so touched and grateful for the outpouring of help and encouragement that piled into my inbox over the weekend.
I have talked to Cady today and she still is feeling positive about her decision to let the kitten remain in observation. Her bites are healing well. The kitten is in observation at the Randolph Animal Hospital, and does not appear to be symptomatic of the rabies virus. My vet seems to think that, being so small, there would be some sign by now, even though they are required to give it ten days.
I have talked to the vet about setting up a fund to cover the costs of this little misadventurer, in the name of Bast. He laughed and looked puzzled and curious when I explained who Bast is. I like him.
SO..... anyone who pledged, and all others who would like to help, (I think about 60 or 70 dollars was pledged so far) please send checks, PAYABLE TO THE RANDOLPH ANIMAL HOSPITAL, to the:
BAST kitten fund
c/o Meredith Martin,
Randolph Animal Hospital,
Rt. 66,
Randolph, VT.
05060
My altar at work now has Bast as it's central figure. kittycatpawkittykittycatpaw.....
I am also in contact with Central Vermont Community Action, and on Tuesday we will receive an application for a spaying certificate. If I can manage to capture Mama again, she can be spayed so we dont have a recurring kitten tribe again in the spring. Mama cat is, by the way, obviously used to being handled by people. When I accidently caught her in the trap, she happily stuck around for canned catfood and some good loving scratches and cooing before I let her go, and she seemed not quite convinced that she wanted to leave. She possibly thought I was harboring her other kitten, (the one that died) somewhere in the house. She needs a loving family. Anyone?
_________ _________ _
CURRENT UPDATE....
still 60 dollars pledged so far, I have 90 to throw in, making 150. that leaves a balance of 100 plus whatever will be needed once I scoop up the mama. Cady has decided she will not adopt this kitten after all, her Mom advises against it. I would love to find homes for both the kitten and the mama, maybe even together..... The mama is currently mourning the loss of her babies, I hear her crying outside my studio at night. she comes out for food and then goes back into hiding. If anyone out there could find it in their hearts to help us, we would be so grateful. I will make an offering to my Bast altar in your name.....please?________ _________ _________ __Blessings.... Meredith
