I do hope all of you who celebrate Christmas were blessed with one of merriment and in the company of those near and dear, as was for me.

©Linda Nelson 2018

The day after Christmas began like any other for me – a festive breakfast to round out my family’s stay before they headed back to their home town.  After that, I took some time to tidy up the house, do a load of laundry, make up the guest room bed, then take a quick couch nap in the cozy company of my beloved little 18 year old cat.  All was calm.  All was bright.

I can’t exactly recall what I was doing after the nap, but I do recall noticing my little kitty snuggled in his cat cubby, supposedly deep in “dream world”, and thought nothing of it.   But….. he didn’t eat the dinner I put out for him and didn’t join me at bedtime.  Yes, this cat sleeps with me, but not that night.

(kitty napping peacefully – photo taken a few years ago)

The next morning arrived and kitty was still in his cubby, only with a dazed and pained expression on his face and the inability to get up.  Long story, shortened – brachial plexus avulsion.  I don’t know how this happened in the few hours between our afternoon nap together and the expected usual evening rituals, but I suspect he either fell or was defeated in a “territorial” scuffle with my other cat.  Either way, I was panicked and heartsick to see my most beloved kitty in such pain and discomfort.  Two trips to the vet, Rx pain meds and turning my living room floor into “our sleeping quarters”  and his feeding/potty station is where I’ve been at for the past two days.  Acupuncture therapy will be on the agenda too.   I didn’t think he was going to make it through the night, as the look on his face last night was that of “giving up”.  I cried, prayed, fought off a panic attack and just petted and kissed him, telling him what a most precious gift he was in my life.  Overwhelmed with anxiety and exhaustion, I finally fell asleep next to him in his cubby.  Somehow, in the middle of the night, he managed to make his way onto my floor mattress, where I woke up in the morning to him snuggled up against my chest.  Oh, how my heart sung for joy!

It seems that my kitty has been spared the worse case scenario, and has sustained a Type 1/ borderline Type 2 category injury (click link to learn about that).  At this point, though, we are still in critical care mode.  I will do everything I can to help him in the healing process, which is where the silence comes in.

Injured animals seek shelter in quiet, hidden places to protect themselves from predators while they heal.  In an effort to provide the best healing environment for my little kitty, I’ve limited the amount of lights turned on in the evening and have been refraining from listening to the radio, talking on the phone and making unnecessary noise.  And, what I’ve realized is that it has been a very healing environment for me too.  All too often, I turn on the radio to my preferred PBS station, thinking it good practice to keep up with what’s current, in addition to being entertained by interesting topics on aired programs.  And, while that’s all well and good, so is silence.  It just feels so cleansing.  And calming.  And soothing.  And peaceful.  And, though my thoughts are that of my cat’s medical needs in the moment and not of resolutions and good cheer, I’m finding silence to be a most beautiful way to ring in the New Year.

So, to my fellow blogging friends…… I silently raise my glass coffee mug to wish you a healthy, happy and prosperous 2019!