Saying goodbye to a beloved and cherished member of the farm is never easy.
Since the farm was created I do my best to invite ease into everything and choose wisely the words I say. Because the things we say and do are a reflection of what comes back to us. But when it comes to quality versus quantity of life, I cannot think of any other words than to say the decision is never easy to make.
On November 6th (2021) we had to make one of those heart wrenching, never easy to make, decisions. SWEET PEA the Barn Bat Cat (that is what we refer to barn kitties at One EPIC Farm) has been deteriorating for some time. Spinning around like he had dementia, getting lost in the barn rafters, and only wanting to eat canned food (that one is questionable, wink, wink). The night before he didn’t come in for dinner which is unusual as he is always ready and eager for feeding time. He gets penned up overnight to keep him safe, so we searched everywhere for him, with no luck in finding him.
Morning came and as I walked the pasture with Farmer Jack, we found him all the way in the back corner of the property. We have no idea how he got there. He was on the wrong side of the fence a very long distance from the barn. He was wet, cold, and clearly not in good condition. We rushed him to the warmth of the house onto a heating bad, and after warming him up, giving him some food, and getting him dry things were looking better.
The farm mobile vet was called and while we waited for her arrival SWEET PEA had a seizure.
Sitting with him on the heating pad and rubbing his fur I could sense it was time. He had a long stare in his eyes and as much as I didn’t want to do it, I knew I needed to help him transition to the love and light in the great heavens, a place I know all animals go to wait for their human caretakers to arrive in their own time.
I cried, I loved on him, and when the vet arrived we assessed him together. She suspects he has been having mini strokes plus an irregular heartbeat and low blood pressure. The decision was clear. Never easy, but very clear.
There was a nor’easter storm looming, and that combined with him getting lost, it is all serendipitous because I have known for awhile this was the right thing to do but just couldn’t make the call. I choose to believe that the universe works in magical ways to soften the decisions for us in ways we may never understand. I am grateful to have been available to love this guy all the way until the end.
SWEET PEA had a great long life of the 7 years I was his caretaker. He helped me launch @EPIC Outreach back in 2015 after I trapped him in 2014 (he was 2-3 years then). He was an emaciated, skin-crusted cat who crossed my path when I lived in an apartment as a single gal. Saving him reignited a calling I always knew I had! Out of that calling I created EPIC Outreach with a vision to one day have an education farm sanctuary. ❤ Thank You Sweet Pea.
SWEET PEA showed me how resilient community cats are by moving from living in an apartment community to a house in a residential neighborhood where he lived in an outdoor enclosure with his other feline feral friends. He then moved again to live on the education farm sanctuary I set out to create.
He taught me more than I could have ever imagined, and his purpose was fulfilled times a gazillion.
We always say, it’s never easy, but the truth is the love animals share in the time they are present in our lives is worth all the decisions we have to make along the way. They make us better human beings and for me they teach valuable lessons about life and love.
In Kindness, Jessie
