~Author: Allen M. Shoen, D.V.M~
The old tabby's pelvis was fractured so badly he couldn't stand. He had been
sideswiped by a car, but luckily his fractures were such that they would heal naturally
over time without an operation. Although he didn't appear to have any other
injuries, it was critical that I keep him in the clinic for a few days just to be sure
there was nothing else wrong.
"You don't understand", his owner said pleadingly, "This cat is
seventeen, and I have another one just like him at home. They were
littermates, and they've never been apart a day in their lives. You've got to let me
bring him home".
There was no way I could release the cat, no matter how emotionally wrenching the
separation might be. Until he was able to stand and had bladder and bowel control, I
had no choice but to keep him under observation.
By the next morning, I wasn't so sure. The tabby gazed into space with such a vacant
look in his eye that it seemed he had already given up and died. His vital signs
were normal, but there was no life in him. He didn't meow. He didn't purr.
He just lay there without eating, staring into some distant place where all hope
was extinguished.
As I pondered what to do next, the phone rang. It was the tabby's owner, and he was
frantic. "My other cat's been screaming nonstop", he complained.
"He never went to sleep. He just prowled around all night searching and
meowing. You have to do something".
"I don't know if it will make a difference", I said, "but why don't you
bring the other cat here"?
The owner made it to the clinic in minutes. When he walked in with the other cat
under his arm, I thought I was seeing double. The brother cat was the image of his
littermate. . . . a fluffy pearl-gray with stripes. But while his injured sibling
lay in a cage torpid in depression, this one was taut with anxious energy.
The minute I opened the cage door, the healing began. The electricity between the
two cat's was palpable. At the sight of his brother, the ailing cat's eyes
brightened, his ears perked up and he struggled in a futile effort to get up and draw near
to him.
But it was actual contact with his brother that really made the injured cat come alive.
The healthy cat bounded into the cage, rushed up to his brother and, meowing with
joy, began licking and sniffing him all over. With the all-important physical link
reestablished, the hurt cat mewed in response, and mustering all of his strength,
reciprocated by licking any part of his brother's body that brushed by him. A leg, a
tail, an ear, a shoulder. . . . . all were touched by his tongue.
The two cats couldn't seem to get enough of each other. They kept licking and
cleaning and smelling, oblivious to anything but each other. They made it clear that for
the rest of the clinic stay, they would be in the cage together.
That night, I peeked into the cage and saw that the cats were still inseparable.
They were huddled close together, purring in unison, as the brother cat encircled his hurt
twin with the loving warmth of his body.
After about three days, the hurt cat began to display normal body functions, which
suggested that he had no further significant internal injuries. By the fourth day,
he was able to stand on his own, with the help of his brother. The brother nudged
him with his nose a few times, and the injured cat got the message. Haltingly, he
struggled to his feet, leaning briefly against his brother for support. A few
seconds
later, he stood proudly on his own and took a few wobbly steps.
The next day, they went home. I didn't see them again until two years later, when
they came in for a checkup. By then, they were nineteen and still in good health.
The injured cat had fully recovered and never showed any ill effects of the
accident.
It was clear that the old gray tabby's recovery resulted not from some medical
breakthrough or traditional veterinary science, but from the tender touch of a brother.
A profound caring that had been transferred from one to the other through the touch
of a tongue and the contact of warm fur. It was these physical acts of love that had
brought the gift of life.
~Reprinted from: "Chicken Soup for the Cat & Dog Lovers Soul".
Authors: Jack Canfield, Mark Hansen, Marty Becker, and Carol Kline~
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