Where Have You Been?

Quoting Rihanna's hit single "Where Have You Been" for the title of this post seems rather appropriate as I've been disconnected from the blogging world. In all honesty, I've been disconnected from many things - friends, family, my husband, my self.  I've taken on a new responsibility over the past two weeks which has been extremely time consuming literally and mentally.

In early May, I received a desperate email from the cat shelter that I've been volunteering with over the last few years.  They had learned of a cat named Bandit that could no longer be cared for by his owners and was scheduled to die on May 22, 2012.

Scheduled to die.

Bandit's owners had several unfortunate circumstances that led to the decision of putting Bandit to sleep.  Bandit was diagnosed with diabetes in January and his owners were unable to give him the proper care he needed to get well and stay well. For months they sought out a new home for Bandit but were unable to find anyone that would take him in.  They had no other choice but to put him down.

Scheduled to die.

The shelter heard about Bandit's story through wonderful donors.  These donors were willing to sponsor Bandit. They volunteered to pay for his medical supplies, his vet visits, his food, his litter, and anything else that was needed to help this poor little dude stay alive.

All that was missing was a home with a loving owner.  He needed someone to take him in, to feed him, to love him, to give him his medications, and to snuggle with him on the couch. 

Scheduled to die.

The shelter asked if I would be willing to take in Bandit and be his foster mom.  I would be responsible for zero costs, and would only have to provide love and care.  He was scheduled to die on Tuesday May 22nd, and came to live with us on Thursday May 24th. 

What is difficult about Bandit is that since he is a special needs kitty he has many special needs.  The diabetes makes him hungry ALL THE TIME, which means we are unable to leave anything edible unsupervised.  He requires two shots a day of insulin and although he was diagnosed back in January, his previous owner and veterinarian were unable to determine the amount of insulin Bandit needs to control his diabetes.  In addition to giving him his injections, I must also prick his ear several times a day in order to test his blood glucose.  

Scheduled to die.

It seems that every time I tell Bandit's story I get a look of pity with a hint of "you're crazy" rolled in with it.  And maybe I am crazy.  Maybe I've bitten off more than I can chew.  You can't save them all they tell me.  It's just a cat, you have to live your life. 

I just can't justify allowing an animal to die because it is an inconvenience and although I can't save them all, I CAN save this one. I can give him more time on this earth to play, and snuggle, and take cat naps in the window perch. I won't discard him simply because he is sick. I won't discard him because he is time consuming.

I simply won't discard him. 

It's hard to believe that he was scheduled to die 2 weeks ago.  As I write this, Bandit is sleeping soundly in a basket upstairs and I can take credit for helping to save his life.

In my opinion, that makes me pretty awesome.