As I mentioned in my previous posts, the past couple of years have been an emotional roller coaster ride for me. It's time for me to move on. A month ago, the BF and I decided to end our 8.5 year long relationship. It was a mutual but extremely sad decision that we reached due to "irreconcilable differences". Our dog gets to go to work with the BF everyday and so I decided to give up custody of him since it would be unfair for me to demand to keep him knowing he would be home alone for 9+ hours a day while I'm at work. It was a no brainer. They'll both be moving out at the end of the month. Since the BF had never been a fan of cats, getting another cat after Zero's death wasn't really an option as long as we were together. When the decision was made to terminate our relationship, and that i was losing custody of Raiden, I went on Petfinder to find myself a new companion to help me heal. I was looking for a healthy, large, declawed, adult (2-5y.o.), male kitty, that was great with kids and dogs in case Raiden comes back to me. The kitty I ended up adopting is far from what I had envisioned, but she is exactly what I needed. <3
Meet Gimpiko I haven't decided if she'll get her own blog yet
Gimpiko (nickname "Gimpy" or "Piko-chan")
Gimpiko "Gimpy" (formerly "princess") is a tiny 7lb, 8 year old special needs Main Coon with claws. She's confident and would hobble after Raiden to try to slap him. Which i'm working on with a combination of timeouts and treats for good behavior. It seems to be working. This little girl is super sweet, and seems to have been loved her entire life. But she's also had a lot of health problems her entire life as well. When she was adopted as a kitten she already had issues with her spine. When she was 6 (and about a week after Zero died), her family surrendered her to Town Cats Rescue because a family member developed allergies. She's been at the rescue for about a year and a half, and had a couple foster homes through that organization. They took very good care of her and spent a lot of money on her diagnoses and treatment. She has scoliosis, a fused spine, asthma/bronchitis, TMJ in her jaw that required PT, and removal of a bunch of teeth... among other issues. Her doctors think that most of her bone malformations are due to too much vitamin A when she was a baby.
I wanted Gimpy to meet Raiden to make sure they would get along, and I was nervous about whether or not I can handle a special needs kitty. Gimpy's foster mom told me that if I wanted to we can do a test week. She came by last saturday and exchanged her for my application form and adoption fee which she said she won't cash in case I decide not to adopt Gimpy. I contacted her on Tuesday that I made my decision, and by Wednesday the adoption was finalized. They forwarded me all her medical records (which was a lot), and should be transferring the microchip registration to me today, along with one month of health insurance. If Gimpy needs immediate medical care, they have also offered to help out if they can. This organization is amazing, and I will be switching my Amazon Smile charity contribution to them. For those of you who don't know about Amazon Smile, it's a great way to contribute to your favorite non profit organization if you're an Amazon addict like me.
Gimpy is seriously the gimpiest, derpiest, friendliest, drooliest kitty ever, whos meows often sound like hissing, and she contorts her face into the creepiest expressions (her face freezes all scrunched up with her tongue sticking out mid meow, and her third eyelid would randomly cover up her eyes making her look like a zombie). She makes me laugh.... a lot. She struggles to walk, and would occasionally fall over when she's trying to get up. But she doesn't give up. I thought it would take her awhile to adjust to her new environment, but within hours she was already out of her hiding place begging to be picked up and cuddled. I have a lot to learn from her.
Zeroichi's memorial marble which contains his ashes.
One year ago today, I lost Zeroichi. It’s strange that it just feels like
yesterday but at the same time forever. Every cat I meet or see online reminds
me of him, his warmth, his sweetness, his uniqueness. Holidays such as
Halloween and Christmas were especially difficult for me since it was our
annual tradition to take holiday photos. I take waaay less photos now.
The house still feels empty without Zeroichi. You would
think I would be used to it by now, but I’m not. I finally put his shrine away the other day,
and was in tears, but I did feel some warmth reading sweet messages from
friends and family who knew about the special bond we had. I was also reminded
of how lucky I was to get Dr. Boltz for his final hours since her straight
forward but caring demeanor helped me make decisions throughout the ordeal. She
was not Zeroichi’s primary physician, in fact that was the first and last time
we met, but she still made a monetary donation to the UC Davis Veterinary research
center in his name which helped me heal in the aftermath.
2015 was an incredibly difficult year for me. Starting with
the loss of Zeroichi on April 12, the bf and I hit a relationship hurdle/drama
crazy enough to be scripted into a horror movie in July (which unbeknownst to me started right before Zero's death), followed by the sudden
death of my spunky family dog Hidaka the weekend after on July 12. My parents and I rushed him to the emergency
clinic in the middle of the night, but he was gone by the time we got there. He
had gotten a clean bill of health from his vet just a couple weeks prior to his
death when we went in for his annual checkup, vaccinations and to ask about his
occasional vomiting when he eats. In October
our HOA sent out a $13,000 invoice to
each homeowner for much needed renovations to be paid by December. And finally a few health scares in my family
including myself. Things have been calm
for the most part for 2016. But this past week has been difficult for me since it's been shrouded by death. Not only is today the anniversary of Zeroichi’s death, but I also attended a
funeral on Saturday for my great aunt whom I last saw at her 100th
birthday party in July who was well and very alert. Last week my friend
of 35 years’ father passed away and I’ll be attending his funeral tomorrow. Yesterday a brother of a friend of a friend found 2 day old kittens in their backyard after their dog killed their mother. Only one kitten survived since its siblings bodies kept it warm.Thankfully its vitals were good, and was just very hungry. And just right now I found out that my friend's dog suddenly became paralyzed on one side, and they're trying to figure out what's causing it. It’s
been very difficult to stay positive, when it feels like the world wants me to
be sad.
RIP 7/12/15
That said, there were some good in the past year as well in
addition to the miracles that happened in the month after his death. Most of which are related to animals of course
since that is my place of happiness. Here are the highlights:
July – After the sudden death of Hidaka, my mom finally
agreed to visit a doctor since her symptoms were similar to his (yes our dog)
and my friend’s dad who just died from cancer last week. After multiple tests the
results came back that she has some problems but nothing life threatening. Whew!
August - My friend found more kittens, who ended up finding
a permanent home with her sister. Meet
Peet and Philz:
October - As I mentioned before, my friends and I go on an
annual haunted road trip in October. Our last one was in New Orleans. Although
it wasn’t as haunted as we had hoped, the food was amazing. But there was one
moment that stood out to me during our graveyard tour. The tour guide told us
to walk around and stop in front of a tombstone that calls out to us. I found
myself in front of a small lot that didn’t have a tombstone, and looked up
since I heard a dog barking. There was a kitty (that looked nothing like Zero)
across the street staring right at me. Upon eye contact he ran across the
street, through the cemetery gates, and rubbed up against me. It felt like
Zero’s spirit was trying to tell me he was okay. I forgot to take pictures of
him since I was so busy crying and petting him.
December/January - The University I work for shuts down for
2 weeks over the winter break. Without Zeroichi, I knew I would be lonely in
the house while the boyfriend and Raiden were at work. Yes! Raiden gets to go to work
with his Dad. It’s awesome. Anyways,
during that time, we decided to foster some dogs through Coppers Dream, an amazing dog rescue program we fostered and adopted Raiden from a couple winters ago. We were able to help three
dogs find their forever homes!
Griffin
Jake
Astro
Griffin was by far our favorite of the group. By the time we realized that we wanted to adopt him, there were already a line of homes expressing interest in him so we didn't have a chance. He was only with us for about a week, but he changed so much in our care. But from day one, it was clear that he was the most loving, trusting dog ever and immediately bonded with me. As a stray, everything was new to him. Eating out of a food bowl, stairs, pottying outside, walking on a leash. The later almost gave me a heart attack when he wiggled out of his harness on our first walk and refused to let me put it back on him. Afraid he would run into the street I ran back into the house, and he thankfully ran/bounced back in after me.
He was so skinny. :(
January – My doctor was concerned that I might have cancer
due to my chronic IBS, and so I had to get a colonoscopy. My dad got one too a week later. We were both
fine. The prep for it was awful tho!
As you can see this past year has been a crazy roller
coaster ride for me. Do I feel sorry for
myself? yes. But I know it could have
been a lot worse and I’m very thankful for that. (knock on wood)
Please give your furry family a hug (and a treat for
tolerating it) for me. I hope you all have a wonderful 2016.
