It was a hot summer day in July 2003, Derek was away on a 6-month tour in Afghanistan, and I had just picked Taylor up from her grandma’s from being there the weekend visiting. Upon meeting her in Brandon to get her, she brought this “frog” home, thinking it was going to be the newest pet in our house. Trying to hide it in a margarine container with holes in the top for it to breathe she was kindly told the frog was NOT coming home with us (haha), and that it was not fair to take it away from its natural home. Driving home, Taylor was encouraged to put the frog back in an area suitable. It was decided that it would be the Eastern access bridge area where the frog’s new home would be. It would have the river there and have new friends it could meet I told her.
Upon pulling down in the area to park, I had noticed a little black head poke down in a hole in the railing of the bridge. At first, I thought it was a skunk, and just to carry on and get rid of this frog but something in my gut made me walk over and check it out. As I got closer I noticed it was no skunk but rather a baby black kitten hiding in a hole in the railing of the bridge. I grabbed it out as carefully as I could as vehicles passed by on the highway and ran her to my vehicle. I noticed down below the bridge in the ditch, a size 5 diaper box tipped over with a 1/4 bag of cat food, a cat dish, and poop scoop. It was clear this kitten was ditched over the bridge by someone.
Of course, now it was easy for Taylor to re-home the frog, because now we had a kitten in our vehicle that is coming home with us. This is the day our lives changed ~ There was never a question of what to do with the baby kitten as I think I already the minute I found her it was meant to be; We had previous lost a cat that April that went into respiratory failure and had to be euthanized. I had made the comment that there would be no more pets…. unless one came to me (stray).
The black kitten soon became part of our family getting the name Kaelin. Kaelin grew up as a very anxious cat, which could have been due to the trauma she endured as a kitten. She fit into our family PERFECT. She was loved to bits and pieces, and soon acquired a new friend Zoey in December 2003 that we purchased from the pet store. Kaelin and Zoey became long life friends and had an inseparable bond.
Unfortunately early yesterday morning we unexpectedly had to say goodbye to Kaelin at the vet. Our hearts are broken, and we miss her terribly already. I want to thank the person who threw her off the bridge in a diaper box. Not only did you gave our family the greatest cat that we’ve loved, cared for and made memories with for almost 14 years but you clearly didn’t deserve her. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart for giving us the opportunity to give her the home and love she deserved since you obviously couldn’t.
Rest in peace our sweet Kaelin, run in the fields chasing the butterflies anxiety free sweet baby girl, I miss you terribly already 🙁
Thank you to Dr. Fischer who was so caring and supportive, giving us as much time as we needed to say goodbye to our Kaelin, ensuring she was comfortable. Thank you to all the staff who assisted us, our concerns over the years, and to Dr. Trush for the support, utmost care, that Kaelin received during her life, we are so ever very grateful for a wonderful veterinary clinic.
