Adopting One Saves Another
Adopting One Saves Another
Chester & Nash
Back in the summer my husband had rescued a small kitten
from the creek that runs beside our house.
After waiting an agonizing time for the results of the tests
on the kitten, he finally got to live in our house with our other babies.
The minute we took Chester into our home, he decided that Cheetoes
was going to be his best friend and playmate.
Now Cheetoes was eleven years old, a red mackerel kitty that
was around seventeen pounds.
Chester was one and a half pounds on his first visit to the vet,
so they made a funny sight.
But Cheet was always gentle as if he knew how small Chester was.
How funny they were as Chester chased Cheet through the house
only to see Cheet then chase Chester back the other way.
One Sunday evening we noticed that Cheet was sitting in one of the boxes instead
of on one of our laps. My daughter and her husband were over
and we were watching our hockey game, and usually Cheet was very happy to see them
since Dawn had taken care of him as she worked at the cattery when he was there.
She got up and went over to him and he loved on her some
and we just thought he was maybe tired from the playfulness of Chester.
The next evening when I came home from work I knew that something
was terribly wrong with Cheetoes,
that he had to be taken to the vets the first thing the next morning.
That evening I brought his favorite box into the sunroom and stayed with him all night.
Beside his box lay Chester, ever so often getting up and licking Cheets face
to let him know he was there with him.
The next morning as I drove up to have Dr. Brenda look at Cheet,
my heart was racing and I could hardly breath,
I knew in my heart that I was not going to bring Cheetoes home ever again.
This was on December 14,1999.
On December 15 Cheetoes was suffering so much he couldn't walk
and his kidneys had all but shut down.
He had a stroke and was throwing blood clots and it was killing him so rapidly
that I was in a state of shock.
Cheetoes was gone, and my heart was so heavy with sorrow
that I was devastated.
Chester immediately went into a state of depression and
with every passing day he sunk even deeper.
We would hold him and try to play with him, talk to him and love on him,
but nothing helped, and finally he would not even eat because he missed Cheetoes so much.
He looked all over the house and when he was satisfied that Cheet was indeed gone,
he settled down to mourn his best friend.
His depression gave me something to focus on so that I could make it
through the day without crying for all my beloved pets that I had lost in such a short time.
I told my husband that we would wait a couple of weeks and if he didn't get better
we would have to consider getting another cat for Chester.
So on December 27 I walked into the shelter
looking for a friend for Chester.
As I looked in the cat room to see whom Chester would like,
I found two that I thought he would possibly accept.
One was a one-year-old male, yellow tabby of course,
and the other was a miniature of Cheetoes.
I looked at the one-year-old first and as I started to walk away to look at the other one,
Nash reached through the cage to try and stop me.
He was telling me he was the right choice, and since we all know that cats
are smarter that us mere mortals, I took him at his word.
After vet visits for tests and shots, Nash came home to meet Chester.
From the moment we walked in the door with Nash,
Chester has been a different kitten.
After a few moments of sniffing each other out they
have become the very best of buddies,
playmates, and soul mates.
You don't see one without the other, if one cries the
other one is there to make sure everything is all right.
Cheetoes had prepared Chester well in receiving another cat into his domain.
He made Nash feel welcome by trying to beat him up on an hourly basis.
We love these two cats so very much,
they are both such an important part of our lives.
What a joy to see Chester happy again, and we owe it all to a little shelter cat
by the name of Nash,
and to Cheetoes
who had befriended a little kitten and taught him how to be a friend.
When we adopted Nash we may have saved his life.
But Nash did something in return,
he gave us Chester's life back.
Somewhere from above, Cheetoes is looking down at his little friend,
happy that Chester is doing well.
And grateful that Nash came into our lives.
Cheetoes
Chester
Nash
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