I had never had a cat, but I have had many dogs. By my count, I have had 7 dogs in my adulthood and 3 dogs as a child. I have also had one bird and three guinea pigs but still, no cats. I have never really understood cats. They don’t come or sit when you tell them. OK, OK, my dog Oliver doesn’t sit or come either, but at least there is the hope he might. With cats, there isn’t even hope. Plus, I have terrible cat energy. Years ago, while visiting my daughter Lizzy, my time with her cat Dolly was rough. When I greeted Dolly, Lizzy said, “You’re too loud mom!” So, I ignored Dolly which didn’t help as later she hissed at me when I walked into the house. Hissed at me!! So, I hissed back. It wasn’t one of my finest moments.
But, my catless existence was about to change. My veterinarian husband John came home from work one day to tell me about a box left at the animal clinic, and when he opened the box, he found the scared eyes of a cat looking back at him. John had never seen such an emaciated animal. This little cat covered in diarrhea weighed only 5 pounds when his normal weight should have been closer to 8 pounds. And, to top it off, the cat had a respiratory infection. It seemed like a hopeless situation, but John decided to do what he could to save this little creature.
He very gently lifted the cat out of the box and the whole animal care team got to work cleaning, feeding and treating this cat who was christened Gherkin by a veterinary technician who, of course, made pickles. Initially, John felt increased hope that Gherkin would live as over the weeks, Gherkin gained weight and started to look much better. However, his respiratory infection suddenly got worse, and, in fact, got so bad, Gherkin almost died -twice. His worsening condition decreased everyone’s hope that Gherkin would live.
But John and the care team persevered spending countless hours caring for Gherkin. At one point, his breathing became so labored, he had to be kept in an oxygen cage, but day by day, week by week Gherkin started to improve, and it slowly became evident that Gherkin would live.
During this time of constant vigilance and caregiving, Gherkin kept inching his way into John’s heart, and I suspect that John also inched his way into Gherkin’s heart, and soon it became obvious that John and Gherkin were meant to be together. When John brought up the idea of bringing Gherkin home to live with us, I said an enthusiastic, “Absolutely!”
When John brought this little “comeback kid” home, I was a little worried – remember the “hissing” incident? However, it has worked out wonderfully. I haven’t hissed once…. Of course, I am now a cat convert. Gherkin is positively lovely. He is very social and loves to be with us purring, and wanting pets. He especially loves John who I now call the “Gherkin Whisperer.” Of course, it hasn’t been all purrs and roses. John found that Gherkin had a bad case of asthma which meant that treatment included an inhaler which the cat would need to take twice daily.
You might know someone – a human - who uses an inhaler for respiratory problems. The medication in an inhaler is meant to breathed in by the patient which means putting the mouthpiece in your mouth, pressing the inhaler to release the medication and taking a deep breath. Using an inhaler can be difficult for a human but a cat? Well, believe it or not there are special devices called spacers that fit over your pet's nose so you can administer the medication.
However, there is a catch. Your pet must be willing to have this strange plastic tube put over their nose and keep it there long enough to breath in the medication. “Impossible,” you say? Not in the Thomas household, it isn’t. John has taught Gherkin to sit still and breath through the spacer to inhale his medication twice a day for the last 5 years. Even more unbelievable is that Gherkin purrs during the whole procedure! As you can see, those two make quite a team.
Hope, I have found out is an interesting word. It is, some experts say, an action verb. Chan Hellman, the director of the Hope Research Center at the University of Oklahoma says, “While optimism is the belief that the future will be better, hope is the belief that we have the power to make it so.” Many people were involved in bringing Gherkin back to health, but the driver of this hope-filled mission was John. John was the one who never gave up on this very sick little cat. He was the one who used patience and ingenuity over and over again to get through each set-back.
It’s often the case when something is hoped for that one person or a small group of people do the work of turning that hope into reality. But, of course, there are never any guarantees, and there are times when all the hope and hard work in the world aren’t enough. Oh, but sometimes, the hard work and perseverance pay off. In the case of Gherkin, all the hoping and all the hard work allowed for one tired and overworked veterinarian and one very ill little cat to find their way home to each other.