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Chapter 50. Love, Grander Than The Universe – Monica, Minnie Mouse and Patches
“I’m looking for a nice kitty to be a companion to my 13-year-old cat,” the attractive and bubbly young woman told me one day at Petco. “Hm, has your cat ever lived with another cat?” I asked her.
“No, never,” the woman answered. “But, I’m thinking she would like a kitty friend. She seems lonely.”
“What makes you think she’s lonely now, if she’s been an only cat all her life?”
“Recently, my 2-year-old nephew stayed with me a while and Patches really loved him. She seems depressed since my relatives left. I can’t adopt a child, but figured perhaps I can adopt another cat as a friend to Patches.” Normally, this is the type of adoption that is very problematic as it is difficult for senior animals who have been “only” pets all their lives to suddenly adjust to a newcomer in the household.
But, something told me this particular woman was very astute and sensitive to the needs of her cat.
“I think I might have the perfect cat for you,” I smiled.
It was almost two years before this particular day.
One afternoon I received a frantic call from another woman in rescue. “ There are about 30 cats being hosed out from a basement on West 47th Street! Apparently, the Super died who had been caring for the cats and the landlord wants them all out. They are using water hoses to chase the cats out of the basement and on to the streets! It’s horrible! I am going over there with some volunteers, carriers and a vet. Is there some way you can help?” I didn’t have room to take more than two or three cats. But, hearing the urgency of the shocking situation, I agreed to go over to the location and do what I could.
I called Anita Mackey to meet me and help us round up the terrified and tossed-out cats. We brought three carriers with us and some towels. The situation was worse than what was described on the phone.
Skinny, water-drenched cats and kittens huddled together under stairwells, their frightened eyes bulging like saucers. Pat Halderman, the woman who called me, came up to introduce herself and catch me up to the game plan. “We just need to get them in the carriers. They are scattered around the buildings and stairwells. Most are friendly, but scared. If you can take any, that would be great, but for now, help us to round them up.”
For the next three hours, Anita and I helped to grab the mostly paralyzed out of fear, cats. We couldn’t tell if the animals were shivering out of terror or the cool temperatures on the early April day or from simply being soaking wet. Most likely, it was a combination of all three. We tried drying the cats off with towels, but the main priority was to get them in the carriers as quickly as possible.
Pat Halderman had a van lined up to take the cats to her vet clinic. The van had to make several trips. The fact Anita and I were both slim meant that we could crawl through tight spaces and grab the cringing cats backing off into corners. We wore thick gloves in order to handle the more skittish and potentially aggressive cats. Most of the animals were however, cooperative in the rescue.
When it was all over, I agreed to take the three cats we had stuffed in our own carriers. All three were skinny, wet and wretched looking. I made an immediate appointment with Dr. Peterson.
Two of the three cats picked up were young and in reasonably good shape. Following deworming, cleanup, good nutrition, neutering and shots, they were adopted out within a couple of months.
But, one of the cats was older and had obviously been a mother many times over. The tiny and scrawney black and white female cat was in poor condition, with a dirty, scraggly coat and almost no teeth.
“Its hard to say exactly how old this cat is,” Dr. Peterson said. She may have lost her teeth due to too many litters and poor nutrition or she could be geriatric. Maybe she is around six or seven.”
I named the emaciated Tuxedo cat, “Minnie Mouse” due to her diminutive size. Moreover, with her skinny, sunken-in face, she looked mouse-like. Minnie Mouse would win no kitty beauty contests. But, her personality was one that truly shined.
From the very day she was rescued, skinny and soaking wet, Minnie Mouse was composed, confident and if “optimism” and “cheer” had faces, they would be found in the mouse-like countenance of Minnie. She was a bouncy, happy, playful cat that nothing in the world – including being hosed out of a filthy basement – could upset.
Minnie loved other animals, people and life itself. She always sensed if another cat was upset and, in her motherly ways, would try to comfort the animal. She loved me and was always there with slightly bent tail held high in the air like a flag. In fact, I don’t recall ever seeing Minnie when her tail wasn’t happily raised! Minnie was quite literally, “happy all of the time.” I had of course, brought Minnie Mouse to Petco many times seeking a home for her. But, despite her happy and loving disposition, no one ever gave Minnie a second look. “Too old, not pretty enough, not unique enough.” But, of course Minnie was extremely unique. But, no one cared enough to look beyond the surface of her mouse-like, older appearance.
That is, until Monica Thorn. “I have this cat, “ I continued to tell Monica that day in Petco.
“Her name is Minnie Mouse. She isn’t here today because I have given up getting her adopted in the store. But, she is an extremely special cat…..” I told Monica that Minnie would be an excellent cat for her situation because Minnie was extremely nurturing, loving and understanding of other cats, as well as not being too far apart from Patches in age. “I imagine Patches will be very stressed and scared with a new cat coming in. But, Minnie is so sweet, smart and patient, she will be totally wonderful with your cat. She is the only cat I could see going into your situation with success.”
Monica listened carefully. She didn’t care about Minnie’s looks, age or color. She didn’t care that Minnie was missing all but one tooth. She only wanted a cat who would be good with her beloved Patches.
Monica happily adopted Minnie Mouse the following day. I brought Minnie to Monica’s apartment to help in the introduction to her other cat, Patches. As expected, the first few weeks between the two cats were not easy. Minnie of course, tried to make friends with Patches and soothe and console her. But, at first, Patches was very frightened and continually hissed to keep Minnie at a distance. Minnie would then back off as if to say, “OK, I understand you are not ready yet. When you change your mind though, I will be here.”
And of course, Minnie’s tail was always in the air. Rejection and hisses would not deter her happy, cheerful ways. When Patches hissed and chased her away, Minnie simply went off and played with toys. “Its OK, Patch….whenever you’re ready. My, these are neat toys you have!”
Monica was extremely patient and understanding through her 13-year-old cat’s difficult adjustment to another kitty. I assured her that the relationship would work, but it would simply need time.
But, if I was confident that the two cats would eventually get along, nothing could have prepared Monica or me for the relationship between Patches and Minnie Mouse that actually developed over time.
Patches and Minnie Mouse became closer than human Siamese twins. The two cats played together, ate together, groomed each other and slept together in Monica’s bed. In fact, where one cat was, the other was only inches away.
Monica routinely stopped into Petco to update me on the amazing relationship between her two cats and the sheer joy in her home that Minnie Mouse brought. “Patty, had I only known how much Patches loves having another cat, I would have adopted years ago. Then again, I might not have been so lucky to get Minnie. They love each other so much.”
But, the real test of these animals’ special relationship would not be fully appreciated until, a few years after adoption, Minnie Mouse developed kidney disease.
Those few times where Minnie’s condition was critical enough to require hospitalization, Patches refused to eat and pined around Monica’s apartment. She grieved for her absent friend.
By the same token, despite Minnie’s failing health, she made remarkable recoveries which even shocked Monica’s vet. “This cat has amazing will to live, ” Dr. Higgens told Monica. “I have never seen a cat survive these kinds of blood readings and kidney crisis.
Then again, Minnie had a very special human caregiver and feline companion that she wanted and needed to get back to. Even a major medical crisis would not deter Minnie’s indomitable optimism and spirit.
Monica continued to give Minnie Mouse fluid treatments upon the cat’s return home. As always, Minnie was fully cooperative with anything one might have to do to her. Her tail and spirit were always up. Patches, meanwhile was just happy to have her special friend back. Then in her late teens, Patches yearly exams were those of a much younger cat. “She is in amazing shape!” Dr. Higgens told Monica. “This cat has found the fountain of youth!” But, tragically, the third time Minnie Mouse suffered kidney failure, she could not be saved despite her courageous spirit and all the efforts of Monica and Dr. Higgens.
The time had finally come to let Minnie go.
And within a year’s time, Patches’s health dramatically declined and she too, was lost to kidney failure.
Or, was it, as both vet and caregiver surmised, really a broken heart? Sometimes, the physical organs are mere reflection of what’s going on in the soul.
If there be an animal and human heaven, then Minnie Mouse and her companion, Patches happily play and snuggle together again, Minnie’s tail, as always, happily pointing upwards.
They patiently wait to see their human “Mommy,” Monica one day.
A few years ago, Monica adopted another cat from us and another kitty companion from CACC.
But, still whenever we talk, the conversations always go back to Patches and Minnie Mouse.
Animals and a relationship so close and so unique that even death could not separate.
A love, grander than the universe.