[sa meredith]

SteveA
I had never seen this thread...so as I sat here with my Saturday morning coffee, it brought a smile to my face (I too am a huge animal lover/cat owner) as I read what great work you do with distressed cats. And it came to a screaching halt upon reading the post about Tia's passing. I am so very sorry. I truly understand that the loss of a pet can shake up your world for a few days.
The before and after photos you have posted show that you and your wife really do make a difference. I commend you for that.
And now, if I may, I want to share an ironic story that just took place.
We have a two year old Chocolate Point Birman...Finnagan. He is 2 yrs, 3 months old. We got him at 6 months.
Well, two Thursdays back , for the very first time in the year and a half that we have had him, Finnagan did not greet me at the foot of the bed in the morning, and race me to the coffee pot. Each and every single day, he craves constant human contact from first thing in the morning, until he has the house to himself. Follows us everywhere, and when checking my morning email, he jumps up on the table, and lies across the keyboard. Every day.
But two weeks back, on Thursday (the 6th), nothing. No where to be found. Long story short, he just stopped eating, and lied in one place for three days. Drank a bit of water, and took a few a steps every now and again, but that's it. Wasn't always sleeping, but just lieing there, looking around, and losing weight.
Come Sunday morning, I had had enough, and called the vet and paid for the emergency Sunday (Mother's day, no less) visit. And the strange part...she found nothing wrong with him. Temp fine, heart rate fine, no stomach or internal blockages, kindeys fine, bladder a quarter full and fine, no nasal discharge...she said nothing wrong..."If I didn't know your cat, I'd give him a perfect bill of health..." Wierd.
Anyway...Monday, Tuesday...he ate a bit. Wed, Thursday started to run around a bit more...Yesterday, back to 80%. And now the ironic part of this long winded tale...after not visiting me at the computer for 9 days, as I typed my condolences for Tia, he jump up and resumed his regular place at the key board. Maybe he was trying to say that he, too, was sorry. Just ironic that he would return to his normal routine as I posted to a thread about cats.
As a follow up, for anyone who is still reading this, the vet called a few days later, and after asking many many questions, about Finnegan, and any changes to his environment, she offerd the following explanation, which I found strange, but plausible.
After being out of work for 9 months, I recently returned to work, and now am out of the house by 6:30, taking away much of Finnegan's quality "human" time in the morning. She told me that he may have indeed just have had a very difficult time adjusting to the big change in routine.
I thought cats were way more independant than to let something like that bother them...but who knows. Just glad to have my morning coffee buddy back.
Lastly...as was stated earlier...it is important to help out from time to time. A couple years back, I started reading the sign whenever I drove by the animal shelter on Meredith Center Road...it will normally state what they are in need of...Bleach, Paper Towels, Cat Litter, etc...and was sure to grab some and drop it by on way to or from the marina. You'd be surprised how good it makes you feel to buy a few 20lbs bags of kitty litter for $3.99 each, and drop them off. It really is not hard to help out a bit. Very little time and money...but I'm sure it all adds up.
RIP Tia.