White creatures arrive for many reasons...like the cat that is a nurse

I have had a number of pure white animals come into my life-usually with magical stories that capture all of our imaginations and leave us pondering their initial beginnings. Often in the past, when I've written about them individually, someone always pops up and says,

They came for you, they are there to help you.

And this is a comforting thing to say, and hear. And I feel I can say that in each case, it has grown to be true-they do help me in ways I might not have predicted.

Of course, one of the more famous white animals to arrive at Apifera is White Dog, aka Benedetto. The story on how he got here has taken many twists and turns in my imagination, and yours. I have written about it many times so won't go into details on this post, but I can say that I do know without hesitation, Benedetto was meant to come to us for himself, to save himself...but he has also become intwined in our lives, and I rely on him here for many reasons. The obvious is he keeps the predators at bay, which right now means eagles that fly over head-he goes nuts ever since one took one of The Bottomtums. But he has another job, and that is to be pure in his intent with me.

I can't hide anything from Ben. And his eyes, don't hide much from me.

We have a ritual I've told you about-I look into his big dark brown eyes, and I say,

"Everything is okay, it is okay, right?"

I started this before we moved to Maine, during the weeks leading up to what would be a traumatic yet exciting move for all of us, and I was supposed to be the leader. I actually think I was a good leader for the animals, and Martyn, and I dealt to every detail of the trip, the move and the packing. But I would look White Dog in the eyes, and tell him, "It's okay, it's going to be okay, you'll see." I said it because I meant it, and I also knew that he and the others could pick up on the tiniest of sensations I might be emitting about stress over the move.

Now that we are here, it is so clear to me that one of the gifts I've given Benedetto, is Maine. He loves it here. He truly is in his element-the cold winter, less rain,, more snow...and he now has his area to protect, and Marcella has hers. They still come together when I let them have wolf play dates, but he is much more his own man now.

All the worry I had, wondering if White Dog would try to find a way to escape once in Maine...is gone. He has never tried, and out West, he would occasionally bolt on us. Not now. I would not put it past him, but he is just more settled here. Perhaps it is just the time has passed-we still don't really know how old he is so maybe he is just more mature. But I believe he is more,

in and of himself, something any of creatures wants, and needs to blossom and thrive, and be at peace.

And there is Noritsu. I saw his face on the shelter's website, and I couldn't shake it. He was actually at a shelter slightly farther away than our local county's shelter where all the elder cats have come from, so I pushed it out of mind. Then a couple other cats came our way, and I thought, okay, Noritsu was not meant to be with us.

But I went back, maybe two months later, and there he was again. And I felt compelled to adopt him, and I did.

I'm so glad. Because Noritsu has a very important job-he is a nurse. Not only does he nurse the cats that I must nurse by standing with me and reaching out to them, but he nurtures me. As I sat holding Laci as she was clearly dying, he came to be with me, immediately...Nurse Noritsu.

Oh I can hear the naysayers. He's friendly. He'd come to you no matter what, he just likes people.

No, it's more than that.

We don't know where Noritsu came from, we don't know anything about his back story, except that he is elderly. Perhaps he nurtured an elder man until their death...perhaps he had other elder animals in the house too. But when he came to Apifera, he checked it all out, sat for a couple days to get comfortable, and then...he just started being a nurse.

I like seeing an animal's true purpose coming through, and being utilized even in their older years.

My sweet nurse, Noritsu, you are very important to me. And you, White Dog, it is okay, isn't it?

Noritsue comes to me, as I hold Laci 

Always the nurse to me, Noritsu as I hospice Laci

Another elder arrives at Apifera

Introducing, Miss Spring

I brought her home from the shelter yesterday and so decided her name will be Miss Spring. It seemed fitting, not only because of the calendar date, but because she now will begin a new life here, new chapters to her long life. She is over thirteen but is in very good condition. She was loved and cared for. Her former owner died recently, and it turns out she was a hoarder, a sad situation for anyone to be in. But she did care for her three cats and one dog. They were pretty well fed and are very sociable and people loving, so that owner loved them, and I'm sure those cats brought her some peace. Hoarding is a tragic situation and is misunderstood by many people. We must not shame these people, they need help and understanding.

So when the owner died, the neighbor alerted authorities there was a dog, which they had found [he has a new home] but there were also three cats. It took them awhile to discover the cats under all the debris.

I had been told about Miss Spring about a month or more ago-she has been at the shelter since about January. But I was focused on Laci, who I knew was on her last leg of her journey. I am glad I listened to my instinct. The minute I got Laci home, I knew she was not going to be with us long. She seemed to have given up. Sometimes this can be a medication issue, an imbalance in the thyroid meds. But Laci had been checked many times by vets. Her intake papers say she was brought to the shelter at her elder age because "the landlord would not allow cats". It is easy to judge, I catch myself doing it. It is easy to get frustrated with human beings, and assume they are the bad guy in these cases. For all we know, the owner was elderly, or poor, and really felt the shelter was the only avenue.

But I do wonder if Laci just wanted to move on. And she did. She slowly became more inward, and grew into that distant gaze look I've seen many times. Last week I knew her final day had come. It was not a vet intervention situation, it was a hospice situation. I spent a lot of time with her, as I had been all month, but that final day I held her a lot and talked to her a lot when needed. She was pretty much mentally gone, but her body took time to fully fade. I am glad I could be with her. And that is why I had held off on bringing Miss Spring home. I wanted to dote on Laci.

But I am so glad she is here now. Miss Spring is a sweet old girl! She has acclimated very quickly and is getting along fine so far. Of course Noritsu was the first to introduce himself. Anna let Miss Spring know she is top female, and Miss Spring kind of did a "Meh."

I love Calicos. You all might remember the elusive Mama Kitty, mother to most of the old farm's feral clan? And Yume seems to recognize,

"You have spots like me."

I hope she has many months, even years to come. She has no known medical conditions, and was right up on the breakfast table this morning.

Now let's hope Miss Spring will see Spring soon [as we await yet another Nor'easter tomorrow]. Sigh. Meh.

Yume thinks Miss Spring looks familiar

And of course, Noritsu was there to make introductions

We welcome another old girl into the club

I was alerted about an elder cat that had recently come into the shelter...which led to...well, bringing her home to Apifera.

Her name is Laci and she is going on 14, and is also on thyroid meds. She hates taking the pills, so fortunately there is a cream I can put on her ear twice daily. She is very accepting of that.

Laci settled in really quickly. I was pleased because at the shelter she was curled in a lump in her cage. I was happy to see how content she seemed right off the bat. Noritsu was the first to greet her-which seems to be his new role in the Cat Suite. So far everyone is getting along just fine.

I guess that somewhat surprises me, how everyone has acclimated so quickly. Maybe because our cats out West were more feel, these guys just seem like they were meant to all come together.

I'm going to go out later today and knit with them. The Old Kitty Knitty Club will be having another knitting day in March. We are making wrist warmers and then will share them with our elder friends next winter. People have asked if they can partake in the Old Kitty Knitty Club from afar, and you can knit some wrist warmers and send them to me and next fall I'll hand them out to our elder friends.

[If you like the work we're doing with animals and elders, please consider a donation. Thank you!]