Keeping busy is the best medicine.

I know it's best to keep busy when you have sadness in your heart. I am so thankful for my five remaining cats and to have the job of caring for other owner's cats as I fill my days going house to house. I have four beautiful cats to care for today and one is diabetic with two insulin shots given daily. She is a sweet-heart and lovingly allows me to do my work.
That is, of course, if she has her treats first.

I am so touched by all that you have said about dear little Cali and your heart-felt condolences. I wanted to share this photo of her when she was 3 months old. You can see that she was quite the character and loved to join in even when I washed the dishes. She had so much to tell me.

She was an indoor-outdoor cat for 16 years but spent all her time in our yard enjoying the changing seasons.

I wish I could thank each and everyone of you personally for your comments. They really helped me although I cried after reading each one. Tears are healing, though. She will be missed every day for a very long time. Even her yowling at night is missed,  if you can believe that. It will take a long time to accept that she is gone but I know we did what had to be done. At dinner time the cats always gather around for a plate of something special while we eat. The absence of Cali joining them, yowling her approval while sending the hair standing up on the back of your neck,  tears me apart but I know, in time, it will be ok. Thank you again.

The Lanark Animal Welfare Society meeting Wednesday night went well, in general. There were a few out-bursts and it went over-time but, in all,  I came away feeling better about their future. Some of the towns will be paying more money for their pound contracts in the new year. Pound contracts bring in 50% of the animals to this shelter. The other half are give-ups. Fundraising will continue for them and the staff at the shelter have all taken a wage cut. There will be news articles with the latest from the meeting and I will keep you posted on their situation in the next few months. So, for now, our home-less cats and dogs will have a place to go where they will be cared for and given a second chance at a good life. We have adopted
Mr. Ed, Annie and Audrey from this shelter. And years back we adopted Sassy who passed away sometime ago at the age of 17. All beautiful cats who needed homes. We will always support the Lanark Animal Shelter and hope the best for them. http://www.lanarkanimals.ca/

We will gather as a family  tomorrow to celebrate my youngest daughter, Allie's, 26th birthday. She, too, is very sad at the loss of our Cali. Allie was only seven when we found this little kitten with her siblings in a box in a ditch.  Can you even imagine this?  All three of the kids were on the phone with me yesterday and we shared some tears. Allie's partner, Jon and my son-in-law, Mike also have birthday's coming up very soon so we decided we will celebrate them all together this weekend.  "Keep busy, eat fattening food, shop"....it's a voice in the back of my head. We'll have some fun memories of this crazy cat to share at the dinner. "God, I miss her so much."
Sunday we are all going to get our trees at the tree-farm across the road from our home.
Riley will love this and then hot chocolate..of course! It's a busy time of year.

hugs, Deb