My wife & I have a beloved cat named Uncle Faff. He is a Tuxedo colored Maine Coon diagnosed with a heart murmur in 2002. He has fared well with it, but late last night he had some trouble breathing, so we took him to the local 24/7 pet hospital. The incident itself was diagnosed as congestive heart failure, with some fluid in the lungs, and although he seemed pretty vital and alert, they kept him overnight due to an arrhythmic heartbeat.
They are keeping him another night, but today we went to the hospital to visit him. We spent two and a half hours with him, along with a 15 minute chat with two veterinarian cardiologists. After he relaxed a little, we brushed him, stroked him, he calmed down and he spent the last 45 minutes sleeping on my arm. He purred himself to sleep. It was sweet. I felt flattered that we could give him some peace and comfort in a bright shiny antiseptic hospital environment.
He awoke, looking very much relaxed, and was quiet and cooperative when we had an aide take him back. Both my wife and I noticed the shift in his attitude. When we got back home one of the cardiologists called to touch base. He said the arrhythmia was much reduced and he was doing better. They had been monitoring him steadily before we arrived and noticed the drop. He said to me “Whatever you guys did, it did the trick.”
What did we do? We loved him. Love is a healing force. I am sure some of you might be rolling your eyes at this, but there is much more to healing than doctors and medicine. And really, love is all we have. I wish there was a different word other than “love,” since it has been overused, but I will work with it. Love holds everything together. Love is what keeps the universe existing.
A lot of current culture and society dismisses this notion. I was discussing this concept on an Internet bulletin board. Someone started a thread asking “Are you willing to help people?” I said “Of course.” He said he didn’t trust people. It was a ‘dog eat dog’ world. Funny term. Dogs don’t eat dogs. They form packs, hunt together and tend to cooperate. How did they become a symbol of cold-hearted relationships?
I have seen dolphins feeding fish to cormorants in the Gulf of Mexico. There was a news item a couple of years ago: a bottlenose dolphin helped a stranded pygmy whale mom and her calf by guiding them out of the harbor. Some animals apparently work with each other across species lines. Helping others is a large part of life, and also a large part of an astrology chart.
I know some cynics talk about life being best lived as “every man for himself,” but I suspect these people missed a few hugs and some love growing up.
Today I saw how strong love can be, when my wife and I helped heal our cat. Love is a healing force. Love is all we have.
Love is sacred, but we have to use it everyday.
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UPCOMING EVENT: I will be giving a short 20 minute talk on astrology, and offering short astrology readings at The Grounded Energy Expo on Sunday, September 12th, 1pm to 5pm at 34 West 27th Street, 11th Floor, NY, NY. Admission is $10.00, cash only. I am one of the co-sponsors of this event, whose motto is “Connecting far-out ideas to down-to-earth people.” Additional talks will cover Palmistry, Tarot, and The Laws of Attraction. There will be also be Astrology, Palmistry, Tarot, Psychic Readings, Reiki & Yuen Method services available too, for additional fees.
If you have a Facebook account this link will take you to the full details.
Tony this is a beautifully written story about your cat and the over-used word love. Lovely.
I have two dogs rescued from a horder who had 25 dogs in a house, alone. She did not live with them, so there was almost no human contact. They were both so afraid at first, I could only take them for a walk when it was dark, so scarey was the outside world. There is no puppy therapist for them. All I could do was love them; show them kindness and love and help them overcome their fears. Today Chip went to the open door to bark at a walker and then stood his ground, barking out the door! He stayed there, he did not run and hide under the couch, or run upstairs to hide under the bed! Doesn’t seem like much, but I never thought I’d see this day. then he came to me to let me know how brave he was and give me kisses. I’m the lucky one.