So begins Bootsie’s journey as your beloved sponsoree. I can’t possibly thank you enough for loving this little one, for giving him a place in your family and for giving him every hope of every miracle he needs.
It almost seems like a miracle to see Boots so settled and smooshy in the Lobby today. While he was always a love bug back in his Suite B days, his initial reaction to being a Community Cat was…well, not quite elation.
When he first moved out to the Lobby three weeks ago, our little lovie clearly wasn’t sure just what to make of his new digs. In his first few days in the Lobby, Boots burrowed beneath a heavy blanket, overwhelmed to be living on this Island of Misfit Toys. And make no mistake: between Chance, Yasmine, Tashi and the whole wacky-wonderful crew out there, the Lobby can seem like a rather strange place.
But Boots caught on quickly to the open secret about these “misfits.” There’s something about the “quirky” ones, the “imperfect” ones, that is beautiful beyond measure and makes you feel like you’re home. Very often it’s the neediest cats who have the most love and the most welcoming hearts of all.
And so Bootsie came to trust his new neighbors. It didn’t hurt that he also realized one key set of equations: Lobby = access to humans. Humans = laps. Laps = Boots bliss.
Multiple times this week alone, I’ve walked out into the lobby to find an unsuspecting-but-elated visitor with a lapful of Boots. Their reaction is always the same: “I just sat down, and he jumped right up!”
That’s our love bug.
Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t believe that there was anything seriously wrong with our boy. He’s so young, so full of life, so happy-hearted…but the ultrasound doesn’t lie, and the ultrasound showed a fat lot of fluid around Boots’ precious heart.
That was almost a month ago now, and since then Boots has been thriving on his new cocktail of heart medications. Blood tests just this week showed that his young kidneys are tolerating all the medicine well, too. That’s a blessing, since the medication to relieve fluid from his heart can take too much fluid from his kidneys.
For his part, Boots clearly has no sense that anything is amiss. Give him a lap and he’s the king of the world.
As for us humans who are Boots-besotted, we need not look beyond Tabby’s Place walls for the reminder that miracles happen. Boots’ heart disease may be severe, and typical time frames may be disheartening…but I’ve learned not to trust anything typical (and certainly not anything disheartening) when it comes to cats. Dusty‘s fast-moving cancer was expected to take his life in April 2008, but he thrives on today. At age 17, Pepper holds her own grim prediction (“she won’t see the end of 2007”) in contempt. And spunky Sammie, who had the very same heart disease as Boots, outlasted all expectations by two years.
Miracles happen. And, dear sponsors, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for your miracle-making love of Boots. If ever you find yourself in need of a warmed lap and a reminder of your own preciousness, I urge you to visit the brave tuxedo boy you love so much.
In the meantime, have a blessed April, full of all things bright and blooming.