My Cat from Heaven

We have all had our pets that we dote over and think are very special. I have happy memories of all the pets I have had. However, I do believe there are animals that have actually been sent from God for a specific purpose. I had one of those, my cat Ruby.

In February 2006, I was in the midst of experiencing terrible night terrors. They were evil about demonic possession. I can honestly say it was the worst period of my life. I requested my uncle, a priest, to bless my room thinking it could be banished because I believed there was a supernatural element to it. It was agony waiting for my uncle to arrive. I tossed and turned on my bed breathing rapidly and sweating. I was in distress. Then my aunt came up to my bedroom with Ruby in her arms. I don’t know why she was bringing her to me. She placed her on my bed and I reached out to touch her. It was like supernatural connection. The distress just melted away and I sat down calmly rather bewildered at what had happened. How did she have the power to do that? It was like she had healing powers.

When Ruby went missing I felt pain like I never had done before. I didn’t know whether she was alive or not. The time she went missing I had a realization before I even knew. That is how strong our bond was. For five weeks I believed she would survive. I believed she was resourceful but by the fifth week I had to make peace and assume she had passed away. At the beginning of the sixth week, I received a call from my sister. Ruby had been found crossing the road disorientated. She was terribly thin and had a huge gash on her shoulder as if it had been caught in barbed wire. I didn’t feel jubilation when I got the call. Just the thought, “Thank God this is over.” That joy came when I saw her at the vet. She had a bandage on her wound and she was staring at us with huge eyes. What must she have felt when she saw us after weeks of looking? She was so full of life despite being terribly thin wanting to get out of the cage and walk up and down. What person would do that if they were on the brink of starvation? She became the poster child of survival. The vet would use her story to encourage owners who had lost their pets.

She stayed at the vet for 2 weeks. In the end, it wasn’t meant to be for Ruby. We took her home and saw that she couldn’t control her bowel movement. She had displayed that just two days prior to her disappearance. The vet knew something was wrong with her insides. I had always felt bad about this but I shirked at her smell. The despair I felt was just too much. She didn’t have any dignity. I had to leave the room and take a break from the situation. When I came back to check on her I saw her burying her face into the body of my boy cat. I was astonished and moved. He didn’t mind her smell at all. I felt grateful to him to take over when I could not anymore. The next day I made Ruby’s last day special doing the feels she loved and having her favourite food that was cheese. This time, I didn’t mind her smell at all. That evening, sobbing, I bid my good-byes.

The time I had dreaded since getting her had come. She died a peaceful death at the vet with dignity and surrounded by love.

I had wondered how she survived those weeks being sick from the start. She should not have survived five weeks. I was told by a relative stranger that it was because she wanted to see us one last time before she died. She never gave up. Nobody should doubt the power of love. It can move mountains.