Page 4 - Winter 20-21

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Kate's Story
A classic Natrum Muriaticum cat? By Ilze Pētersone, Latvia
I was contemplating these things the other day on a walk on the fells in this glorious part of England in which I now live; there was snow underfoot, mist ahead and visibility was limited.
After a hard climb, we got to the cairn that topped the fell and found a small painted stone placed carefully at its foot. It was a breathtaking moment of connection with someone, somewhere. The someone who had painted the stone, carried it up 600 metres of earth and rock and placed it particularly with love, because surely it was an act of love.
Connections are precarious and precious things, we need them now more than ever, we need them to sustain us through these days of cold and darkness and we need to nurture them with love, because ultimately what will we remember from these times, what will be left? As Larkin put it –
What will survive of us is love.
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Kate is my mother's cat – mixed breed female cat, neutered, born in 2010. Kate was adopted from neighbourhood as a kitten. She and her littermates were almost like wild – ‘feral cats’. Kate use to live in flat together with to other cats – a neutered male tabby cat, Rūdis, and an old mixed breed neutered female cat, Čiepa. Kate develops close bonds with the old cat Čiepa, she slept almost always next to Čiepa and she was accepted as a kitten without any troubles or fuss.
Her owner describes Kate as timid, polite, fastidious and unsocial. She is very much attached to her owner, but never sits on the owner’s lap. Kate doesn't like the male cat Rūdis, she runs away from him, because he is
chasing her often. Rūdis also doesn't let her eat, usually wants to eat out of Kate's bowl. Kate can become irritated too; she starts to hiss and growl and then she runs away.
Interestingly, Kate isn't able to chew big pieces of food. Kate is also very sensitive to any noise. She hides from visitors, also from me, and doesn't want to be approached.
Health problems were noticed at the beginning of May 2012:
• Gradual loss of appetite
• Hides in the wardrobe
• Rarely uses her litter box