CHAPTER NINE
PREPARING
FOR THE HOMECOMING—PREPARATION IS EVERYTHING
(36TH installment, Scruggs and Samantha, by Mary de la
Pena)
I
literally ran as fast as I could through the pet store, buying food, toys, bed,
as well as a collar and leash for Scruggs.
Each of the animals had special needs, and I tried hard to anticipate
them all.
Because Samantha was a
young kitten and meant to be primarily an indoors animal, I needed to create
special place for her to which she could retreat when tired. I also knew it was critical for there to be a
gradual meeting between her and Caesar, the older silver tabby cat. He was a softy at heart, and extremely
gentle, but at eleven years old I did not want to upset him too much. Also, with Samantha being so tiny, I knew I
had to keep her safe from accidental harm from the large dogs. I decided she would occupy the upstairs
guestroom. I bought her a new snuggle
bed, kitten food, a new cat pan, and new dishes. To comfort her, I also bought her a small
stuffed toy to keep in the bed with her.
It was something I had
learned when Caesar was first brought into our home. I had come into his room and couldn’t find
him. Panicked, I had torn through the
house looking for him. Eventually, I
found him curled around the numerous stuffed animals I had spread across the
top of the piano. As he got older, he
chose one of the toys to take to bed with him.
Cosmo did the same thing. He also
chose a stuffed toy he carried with him for a couple of years. Thus, it only seemed appropriate for me to
find a toy for Samantha.
For Scruggs all I
purchased was a new food dish for him, a stylish collar with name tag, and a
new leash. He was not coming with a
microchip and I wanted to make sure if he ran away that he could be found
easily. I planned on using the newly
purchased bed I had gotten for Alice
just before she passed. She had never
really used it, and when she died I washed it and put it away.
After making my
purchases I raced home to prepare the house.
Upstairs in the guest room I created a special place for Samantha. I put her bed under a table so it would
create a cave, and I placed her soft toy in the bed. I also filled her new bowl with water and a
little bit of kitten food. Close by I
placed the new cat box filled with sand.
It would be close enough for her to find but not right on top of her. I also connected a night light to give a soft
glow when it got dark. By preparing this
room I felt I had created a safe environment for Samantha so she could meet
Caesar through the closed door. I also
expected that the safe room would keep her from being accidentally hurt by the
paws of the large dogs.
Scruggs was my next
challenge. He would still be under the
influence of the anesthesia from his surgery.
The two or so hours in recovery would only be enough to ensure he did
not have surgical complications, but it was not nearly enough time for the
anesthesia to clear his system. From
past experiences with my other dogs I knew the drugs given to him would likely
leave him disoriented and possibly even induce a mild form of psychosis. I had witnessed our beloved Alice
snap at invisible ghosts on the day she recovered from anesthesia, while Tara whimpered and cowered before her self-imposed
terrors. Taking all of this into
consideration I knew that bringing poor Scruggs home would be even more
difficult than usual.
Therefore, I knew it
would be crucial to have a safe place for him to recover. I decided the laundry room was the best place
for him. It was connected to the family
room by a very short hallway. I
carefully placed the bed and a bowl of water for him in the room and erected a
gate so that he could hear us in the family room. The area would be dark, somewhat secluded and
away from the prying noses of the other two dogs. He also would be able to hear our voices from
the adjoining room. I thought it was dark
enough in the laundry room to be like a den to give him the sense that he had a
place to hide while he recovered from the anesthesia and settled into the
rhythms of our household.
With all
the dashing around, I couldn’t decide if I was happy or just scared to
death. When all seemed secure, I called
the office. My mistake.
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