Luna’s Nine Lives

"A cat has nine lives. For three he plays, for three he strays, and for the last three he stays."

- Old English Proverb

^ "Hey, fam! It's cold and wet out here and I'm three minutes overdue for my fourth morning nap. Please let me in!"

They say cats have nine lives and I believe it. Our boy, Luna, has used up several of his. 

For starters, Luna and five siblings were abandoned as newborns on a chilly October day outside a vet’s office in Bellingham. One of those six kittens died during that crisis but the others were rescued and fostered by an incredibly compassionate and devoted team of cat-orphan-baby-loving women. Luna was the tiniest of the tiny survivors but survive Luna did. One life used. 

A few weeks after we adopted Luna and two brothers, we sent them off to be spayed and neutered. Despite the fact that these are routine and fairly safe procedures, I was filled with a sense of dread and a premonition that Luna, in particular, would not be coming back to me. Now, at the time, Luna - as the name may suggest - was believed to be a girl. But we got Luna back with a note saying, “She’s a boy!” And I realized that in a strange way, my premonition had come true. My girl Luna was indeed forever gone, and for a time, I grieved her. Another life used.

Now Luna’s lifetime of adventures began in earnest. Though we respect those who disagree, we believe strongly that cats deserve to live at least a part of heir lives outdoors; ours vocally demand the right to roam outside and we have done our best to respect that. But let me tell you that the cost of that decision has been many, many a sleepless night spent wondering where the bloody cats are and when they are going to come back home. Luna put us through his fair share of those long, mysterious disappearances and I couldn’t count how many times I feared he was gone forever. Once he was gone for three days and three nights, and I never expected to see him again. So imagine my surprise and delight when, on the fourth day, I popped around the corner of the house to find Luna on his way to the back door. I’d like to say he wore the victorious countenance of Odysseus heading home from war but honestly, he looked like he’d seen a ghost.  I suspect the poor boy got shut up in a neighbor’s garage and had to wait out a long weekend until they came home and set him free. Any number of lives were used up in this way. 

In the last couple years, Luna's zest for adventure has abated considerably. He still slips out the back door several times a day but only for a half hour or so, depending on the weather. He rarely leaves the comforts of his own back yard, and I'm relieved with his newly acquired homebody ways. But last week, Luna gave us a new reason for concern. Some potty problems landed him at the emergency vet who solemnly delivered her suspicion that Luna had a cancerous mass in his bladder. We feared, once again, than Luna may have finally run out of lives. 

Goodness. Loving animals with short little lifespans is inevitably such heartbreak

But this story has yet another happy ending  I just spoke to our amazing primary vet who gave us the wonderful news that Luna is most likely suffering some other, much more manageable malady than cancer and even as a 15 year old cat, is likely to be ok. 

Apparently our darling Luna still has lives to spare.