One thing that has certainly changed since Mr. Virgo’s death is my perceptions. Life itself is finite and the veil is so thin. You’re here. Then you aren’t here. When that reality actually sinks in…when it’s been someone who means the world to you…you will never, ever see life the the same way. It’s inescapable.

We had a near tragedy here at Marshmallow Ranch yesterday. Mr. FixIt waited for the temp to come up a bit before he let Pumpkin Kitty out of her cozy building to get a little fresh air. We were supposed to go to town around 10:30am for a birthday party, but we had a little skiff of snow and the scuttlebutt on Facebook said the roads were glazed with ice. I don’t like this road in good weather. I just had this niggling feeling we needed to stay home.

After Mr. FixIt let the cat out, he went to the building to refill the bird feeders. I was sitting in the living room, working on my laptop, when I hear this blood curdling scream. I ran to the door and listened and I could tell it was coming from inside the fenced yard. At first, I thought it was Mr. FixIt and something had happened to him. Then I realized it was an animal. Sound travels weird out here with the metal building and I couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from. 

I was going to go on the other side of the pool because it sounded like it was perhaps an animal that was hit on the road above us. Then, suddenly I heard splashing water. Something was in the pool! With my heart in my throat, I ran to the edge of the pool and there was our Pumpkin Kitty, sinking to the bottom, her eyes opened wide!

I reached down as far as I could without jumping in myself, and grabbed the scruff of her neck. I knew if I let go of her, she would run off and freeze to death. So I ran to the door of the building and yelled to Mr. FixIt to come in the house right away…I needed him. Then I ran into the house and wrapped the poor soggy cat in three thick towels. Mr. FixIt popped his head in the door of the bathroom and asked what he could do. 

I asked him to plug his heating pad into the power strip by the Big Red Chair. I went out and sat in the chair and he covered the kitty and me with my fleece throw and wrapped the heating pad around the poor cat. She was shivering like crazy, but I held her close…something she detests. (The picture above is an old photo. The last thing I was thinking about yesterday was taking a picture of me holding her. I just wanted her to get warm!) Those towels were wrapped around her tight and she wasn’t getting away. I sat there for a couple hours, rocking her and whispering comforting words to her.

Then I asked Mr. FixIt to get her popup enclosure out of the garage. It looks something like a popup tent with screened in sides. We put a big blanket in the enclosure and I put Pumpkin inside. By this time she was pretty dry. I placed the enclosure over near the gas stove in the corner, and there she stayed for the rest of the day. She was finally warm and cozy and she slept for a couple of hours. 

By the late afternoon, we took her back out to her heated bedroom and she snuggled right into the blankets in her bed. We dodged a huge bullet yesterday, but it taught me a lesson. I’ve been looking at animal safety ladders for pools. I never bought one because I didn’t find one that looked like it could support a cat. They’re mostly for frogs and squirrels. I have designed one that will support a good sized animal and will buy the necessary supplies to build one right away. 

But first, I needed to figure out how she fell in the pool. She loves to walk around the railing of the pool. She has never slipped in before, but we had that dusting of snow Thursday night. Judging by her footprints, we figure she went to the railing and when she jumped up, she slipped on the ice and fell in. Let me tell you…we’ll be figuring out some way to keep her out of that pool one way or another, that’s for sure.

This explains the nudging…the whispering of the Holy Spirit…telling me not to go to town. Because, if we would have, there is no way our poor kitty would have survived. We were meant to be there to help her. I’m hoping this teaches her a lesson and she stays away from the pool. But no matter what, we’re coming up with something to protect her…and all other kitties that may come along and try the same thing. We live in the country. Pumpkin is an outdoor kitty…with a twist. She has a 30’x40’ building with a heated bed and heated water dish. She has treats and good food and blankets. She’s a good mouser. We haven’t seen a mouse since she came to live with us in 2019. She’s one of the most pampered outdoor cats you’ll ever find.

We needed to go to town later in the afternoon so we left after we put her to bed. On the way there, we saw places where cars had slid off the road which further convinced us God didn’t want us going to that birthday party. I feel so guilty because I dropped the ball on creating a safety device to prevent this from happening. 

Thank you, Lord…for protecting this little black kitty. She’s used up three of her nine lives now.

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“Good people are good to their animals; the “good-hearted” bad people kick and abuse them.”

Proverbs 12:10 MSG