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Guest post: Forever Loved: Sabine, Part II

Guest post: Forever Loved: Sabine, Part II

Nothing I could write here could possibly add to Jess’s words below.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, extraordinary friend. — A.H.

Two and a half months ago, Tabby’s Place received a request to help a Special Needs kitten. The cutest kitten who seemed to have a degenerative neurological disorder. The rescue that was caring for her noticed she started having issues with her front legs at 6 weeks old. The muscles shrank, and her front legs became crossed over her chest.

Would we take in this sweet kitty that had something very bad happening to her?

Of course we would. The collective heart at Tabby’s Place melted at the sight of Sabine’s face. She was too cute for words. Boy, was she sweet. We had seen similar degenerative diseases before. We knew that her time with us could be very short, so we got into a foster home right away.

I am very honored that I was asked to foster this sweet little baby. She could scoot around on her back legs and inch-worm her way around. She loved to play. Wand toys were her favorite.

Our wonderful veterinarian, Dr. Collins, and the wonderful neurologist that we send all of our neurology patients to confirmed our worst fears. This was a degenerative neurological disease, a lysosomal storage disease. Sabine’s muscles had atrophied in her front legs, and they were starting to atrophy in her back legs. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time.

We made sure to make that time count. I made Sabine a little area in my children’s room. Although my kids have way too much screen time, they made sure to spend all of their time with her. Sabine knew more about Fort Nite than I ever will. We snuggled her all the time, played with her. She loved to play so much.

Eventually her back legs atrophied. She could not get around as much. Then, she had trouble holding her head up to eat. Even with me holding her to eat, it was obvious she was starting to struggle. We knew it was time to let her go.

It is never an easy decision to let a cat go. With a kitten, it feels unfair. It is unfair that Sabine had this storage disease. It is unfair that she did not get to grow up. Despite everything we did, we knew we could not prevent the inevitable.

We did the next best thing; we loved her. We gave her a home. We snuggled with her. We made sure she was warm and well-fed. We played with her.

We loved her.

2 thoughts on “Guest post: Forever Loved: Sabine, Part II

  1. It was forever to her. Sabine lived a long and happy life in her mind. Thank you for filling her forever with love and food and warmth for her to take with her forever. You and your family are wonderful.

  2. God Bless you and your family Jess. Sadly, as we all know, there are kitties who live long lives and never know the kindness and love you and your family lavished on beautiful Sabine. Her time may have been short, but you all made every minute special and she knew this in her heart. And bless you for raising such compassionate children. Rest In Peace, beautiful Sabine. Run over that Rainbow Bridge and meet up with Beamer….shes looking forward to meeting you!

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