Goodnight Sweet Valerie
It was a quiet Saturday evening when the call came in about Valerie. A volunteer was having dinner at the Kin House by Rambler Park and had spotted Valerie on their way into dinner. Valerie had been hanging around for several months and didn't seem to have a home, according to what an employee told our volunteer. Realizing how thin Valerie was, the volunteer immediately called me. Though RCR doesn't have the ability to handle emergency pick-ups, we do what we can. The volunteer managed to talk the employee into locking Valerie in a shed with water and part of the volunteers turkey dinner until she could be dropped at my house.
When Valerie arrived she was in worse shape than I feared. Severely emaciated, you could feel every bone in Val's body. Her once long and beautiful fur, was severely matted and had to be cut off in many places. In addition to literally starving to death, Val was horribly dehydrated and in need of subcutaneous fluids in order to prevent organ failure.
Early the next morning Valerie was taken to a local vet clinic where she was placed on IV fluids and put on a high calorie diet while attempts were made to track the owner for the tattoo in Valerie's ear. Unfortunately, RCR was not able to locate the owner and Val was discharged on the Monday into my care. Though she was only 2.7kgs at her rescue (the size of a 4 month old kitten), Valerie had fight in her and a will to live that surprised everyone. After a week in foster care she seemed to be on the way to recovery.
Sadly, only 2 weeks after her rescue, Valerie's body began to shut down and simply couldn't bounce back from the starvation she had endured. On Sunday November 2nd, Valerie crossed over Rainbow Bridge with me at her side. Though she was with us only a short time, she touched the lives of the many volunteers who meet her and she will be sadly missed.
Valerie is one of many RCR foster cats that I have been with at the end of their lives over the last 8 years. It is both heartbreaking and a privilege to be with them as they say goodbye to this world, that, on many occasions has been cruel and uncaring towards them, and hello to the peaceful and enjoyable place that is Rainbow Bridge. Someday there will be many cats waiting for me when I pass over and I look forward to snuggling every one of them.
~Jaimie~