The Past Few Weeks

Hello Friends!

Happy March!

The above quote comes from an old calendar I found while doing some organizing.

On February 24th we were supposed to be winging our way to Bangkok, Thailand but cancelled because of uncertainty around Coronavirus.  It's a good thing we did since flights from there were barred from entry early on so we would have been stuck if we had traveled.

My birthday on the 26th was a quiet day spent at home.  I made myself a vegan vanilla cake with chocolate tahini frosting.  The handrawn heart tag came with gifts (which included the plate and mug shown in the photo) from my friend, Aruna.

On Thursday, February 27th, this sweet kitty showed up in our parking area in pretty bad condition.

He obviously had some kind of trauma to his backside but was managing to still get around.  He would swing his hips around, balance himself and then shuffle along, but his back toes would flap backwards and it was so very painful to see.  I thought he might even have rectal prolapse because his whole backside seemed to be bulging out.

Because it was the weekend and a national holiday here, all I could do was take care of him the best I could.  I reached out to friends and animal rescue groups for support.  We posted his story on Instagram.  He was unable to control his urine or bowel movements, so I cleaned up after him and bathed him a couple of times a day.

Last Sunday I was finally able to get him to the vet who felt that he would have a long recovery as his paws and backside were so badly inflamed.  But then, after a 24-hour stay and an x-ray, it was determined that he had a spinal fracture that had not healed properly.  You can see in the picture above where the spinal fracture started; his back end so weak and thin.  Surgery would be costly with only 10-20% chance of success.  The vet felt strongly that for the dignity of the cat, euthanizing was the right thing to do.

I had named him Tai, as a nod to the fact that if we had been in Thailand, he would not have been able to find me.  The diagnosis broke my heart but I truly believe that sometimes animals come to us so that we can help them heal, and other times they come to us so that we can ease and end their suffering.  It's always such a hard decision and I cried my eyes out, but so many people posted messages of encouragement and that helped me immensely.

Because of Coronavirus, schools have been closed.  This is week two.

Gatherings have been discouraged so there's been no Kuwait Crafters meet-ups.

I haven't really been much in the mood for making, but am trying to start some simple projects.

Hope all is well with you.

Happy International Women's Day!

Sunday blessings,