There is an ancient cliché that applies perfectly to Miss Colleen, our lovely Irish Girl. When someone has been through just the worst of all possible situations, we say they have been “through the mill.” I’m not quite sure the derivation of the expression and what the idea actually means — through the mill. Are they implying that someone’s body’s been dragged through mill equipment of some sort?
In any event, I took one look at our poor girl sleeping on a chair in Jonathan’s office, and that’s the expression that popped into my mind. She looked worn out. Her fur was in complete disarray. She’d lost weight. This recent bout with ringworm isolation couldn’t have come at a worse time.
So I scooped her into my arms and brought her into the Community Room. There’s a comfy bench against the wall, under the window, a lovely spot that catches the sun. It had Colleen’s name written all over it. I plunked her down and, yeah, within seconds she relaxed on the lovely blanket, stretched herself out, and it seemed that every pore in her body, every strand of fur acted like a sponge and sucked in that sun. Colleen and sun! Then I combed out her fur that was looking a bit funky.
Colleen climbed onto the windowsill–something I haven’t seen her do in ages. She sat there, looking out, admiring the scenery, watching the comings and goings, for Tabby’s Place on a Friday early afternoon is a busy place.
Until…she noticed the water fountain that she usually drinks out of out of the corner of her eye. Now this fountain was completely dismantled. Jen, one of the volunteers, was in the process of getting water and putting it back together. She’d seen that it needed to be cleaned and done the deed.
But when Colleen saw the fountain, all she knew was that it meant flowing water.
Before I could dissuade her or explain that the fountain was temporarily out of service, Colleen jumped off the windowsill, onto the bench and onto the floor. With lightning speed she scooted to the water fountain with one thought in her mind — flowing water. When she arrived, she looked, examined, sniffed and took a step back. Then she moved in closer and began to lick the dysfunctional fountain in a last desperate attempt to find water.
I was thinking, gosh, this entire scenario was blowing Colleen’s mind. Cats think so differently than we do. To her, “water fountain” meant “flowing water.” Every time she went to the fountain, that’s what she got. Well, Jen and I, aware of the desperate situation, felt like we were in a race against time to put the fountain back together and get the water flowing again. Oh, we did it. A few trials and errors, but finally the water flowed and Colleen stayed there and drank and drank and drank for a full ten minutes.
Another cat jumped down and waited behind her. A line was forming at the water fountain!
So we want to send a special thanks to Volunteer Jen, who so selflessly cleaned out the water fountain. You made Colleen’s day!
On the medical front, Colleen’s weight loss means she’s being monitored closely. Fortunately, a recent workup hasn’t yielded any particular results. She’s been pawing at her face again, so Tabby’s Place re-started her laser therapy, with acupuncture treatments scheduled for the near future as well.
By the way, if you’re thinking that Colleen is sitting in the sunshine all alone, be assured that she has a wealth of people who love her, a steady stream of visitors who pay her a visit. Our Irish Girl is well-loved! And this past week, when I stopped by, I found Colleen on the ledge, gazing peacefully out the window, and that water fountain was shooting out the water, functioning just beautifully.
Thanks, as always, for your generous support. Sunshine, a lovely place to live and a fountain of water — you help to make all that possible for Colleen.