Story

When he first arrived, my husband and I took one look at him and I cried. My husband, not a true animal lover but one who tolerated them for my sake, said "oh he is cute". The cat sat on the floor as a child would, with his back legs straight out in front of him and propped himself up on either side with his two paws. He was polydactyl, which means he had extra claws, on both front paws, so it almost looked as if he had hands that were flat on the ground as he held himself up. He stared at my husband and me as tears ran down my cheeks. As I moved closer to him, the little guy scooted away and dragged his back legs behind him. I was stunned to see how fast he could move. He dragged himself under the nearest bed and there he stayed for quite awhile. Finally, I laid down by the bed and softly spoke to him. I pictured myself holding him gently and kissing away his hurt. I asked him to please give us a "chance" to love him and take care of him. I held out my hand and he slowly inched his way out from under the bed, gave my hand a little lick and started to purr the loudest purr you ever heard. He rubbed his little head against my hand and my heart was his. This little guy, after all the hurt and pain human beings had caused him, was willing to give me a "Chance"....hence his name. My husband on the other hand was not feeling the same things I was.....yet......To him, it was a sitution that he was not sure we could handle. I must tell you that my husband was a man of little emotion. He didn't have a demonstrative family as he was growing up and emotions were something to be kept hidden deep inside. It was hard for him to show open love, even to me. He was also not much of a conversationalist and many times, people thought he was just unfriendly. But that would soon change, thanks to a very special little cat.As the days turned into weeks, Chancey kept us in constant awe and amazement. He would not let his handicap stop him from doing whatever it was that he wanted. His courage and will to survive was boundless. We had two 2 year old cats, Casey and Mushka, at the time Chancey arrived, and I had some fear that they might hurt him or not accept him. I was wrong. They took to him right away. Of course, our little Chancey gave them no choice. He instigated wrestling matches and games of "I'll nip your butt and then you will chase me". We sat in amazement and watched a little cat with hardly any hind quarter control, drag himself around the house at breakneck speeds. He wrestled and played and did everything the other two cats did.....almost everything. He could not jump up onto any chairs or sofas or windowsills like the other cats could. Watching the look of longing in Chancey's eyes must have opened the floodgates to my husband's heart. A look such as I had never seen before came over the man's face. I can't describe the changes that took place in my husband after that, except to say that it was some sort of "awakening". I could have sworn I saw a tear in his eye......He was a changed soul.Chancey's longing to do the one thing that his handicap kept him from doing, kept my husband in the garage hammering and sawing for most of the day. He had built Chancey custom ramps up to the sofa, chair and windows. He would beam with pride at the way Chancey manuvered up and down those ramps, now able to follow his housemates to the highest reaches of his domain.Life went along so well for awhile. Chancey seemed to sense in my husband something that needed to be set free, so hubby and cat were almost constant companions. I would often hear soft whispering coming from one of the rooms, or gentle laughter, and I would find the two of them playing a game of "feather flyer" or "catch the mousie". My job, it seemed, was to feed and help with the bathroom chores, since due to his injury he needed help using the litterbox and cleaning up afterwards, a job that I did willingly and lovingly despite the little "love nips" I received for my efforts. I was allowed a generous amount of purrs and leg wraps however, and even an occasional snuggle as we drifted off to sleep. I started to notice Chancey getting bigger around the tummy and abdominal area. I attributed this to his very healthy appetite. But then he seemed to get very tired, had alternating bouts of diarreha and constipation, would tend to vomit and just seemed "off". Almost overnight, he bloated up and developed a very high fever. We rushed him to the vet who performed the necessary tests and treatments to ease his discomforts. The doctor drained the fluid from his abdomen, gave him sub-qutaneous fluids to combat his dehydration and administered medication to lower the fever and help with vomiting and diarreha. Chancey seemed better when we finally left the vet's office. He was again his playful little self and seemed to feel so much better. Although the vet seemed very concerned, we had high hopes that Chancey would fully recover. Our special little cat seemed okay the next day, but that night, he again showed the same symptoms as the previous day. Then the phone rang and it was the vet. She explained to us that the tests that she ran on his blood and his abdominal fluid, combined with his symptoms, pointed to FIP, Feline Infectious Peritonitis....the only cat disease not tested for. It was a death sentence, and a very painful one at that, for our little boy. The vet explained that the disease was highly contagious to our other two cats and that it would cause Chancey great pain and suffering and that our sweet boy was at the end stages of the disease. So, we looked deep into our hearts and decided to make Chancey's pain.... our pain. The decision to say goodbye and to send our sweet angel on his journey to a beautiful place, was one that we knew had to be made. So, I held that beautiful gift in my arms and said goodbye and told him how much I loved him as he drifted off to another place........a place with no pain, no aging, no cruelty....... only beauty, light and love. As he left this world, my husband took me in his arms and we cried a river of tears. Yes...my husband, a man who never showed emotion, openly wept real tears in the vet's office. We stayed with Chancey for awhile, reassuring him of our love and thanking him for allowing us to come into his life. I think he knew how much we loved him. He looked so peaceful as he lay there in his little bed that we had brought with us. But it was a sleep that we knew he would never awaken from.Over the course of the next few weeks, we had our remaining two cats tested for FIP. The results came back and we were terrified to learn that one of the cats showed exposure to the disease. The vet explained that, although Mushka had a titre reading, it did not necessarily mean she would develop the full blown disease. It merely meant that she was exposed to the virus and she "could" develop symptoms. The doctor told us to bring Mushka back in 2 months for another blood test to see if the titre was going up or down. She was a healthy and robust cat, so we had hopes that she could fight off the virus. I prayed and my husband walked around in a daze, but he seemed to take more of an interest in Mushka and Casey than ever before. He openly showed how much he loved them by hugging them and carrying them around in his arms. I was amazed. His heart had truly softened. Two months later, after much crying, praying and my late night "conversations" with my little "Cat Angel", Chancey, who assured me that she would be okay, we had Mushka retested. Low and behold, her readings were close to normal, which meant that her immune system was able to fight off the virus. She still carries it in her system, however. Our prayers had been answered and we openly cried for joy, even my husband. Several months later, Maddie came into our lives and about a year later, Munchkin. Our resident dog, an old girl herself, just seemed to accept all these newcomers with a quiet reserve. Afterall, what choice did she have? Although the fact remains that our cats have now all been exposed to the virus and may at any time develop a full blown case of FIP, we remain hopeful that they will be with us for many more years to come. Our lives have been enriched thanks to Chancey. He showed a quiet, reserved man how to openly love. My husband and I have become even closer since his newfound love of animals, especially cats. He helps me to trap/test/spay and release the stray cats we come across, and he has a much richer relationship with his children, both human and furkind. I have been working on the internet speaking with people and trying to educate them about the importance of proper pet care, and also working closely with others on the internet helping people deal with the grief they experience after the loss of a furchild. Chancey has left behind a legacy of trust, companionship, courage, dignity and unbelievable love. Don't shut your heart to that tiny meow you may hear in the distance, for it just may be the meow that can change your life. A small cat entered our lives, but a King departed and left behind the greatest gift of all.....the gift of an animal's unconditional love.