It’s hot and humid and sticky here in New Hampshire. The cabin has every fan running, everyone is slow and sleepy. Rich and I are here for a couple weeks with the three youngest kids. I also brought my best friend cat Sammie. She’s driven here with me before, and we get such joy watching her be the only cat in the family away from her three cat-mates back home in Connecticut. She stretches out in sunbeams, perfectly relaxed, goes inside and outside and finds many favorite napping locations and plays with her several catnip toys. She rubs up against our legs and purrs constantly. We all love having her here.
Sammie’s peaceful New Hampshire life ended when the rest of the family, plus the Winter the dog, belonging to Ethan and Sierra, arrived on the 3rd. No matter if she’s home or at the New Hampshire cabin, Sam is always fearful and hostile of Winter. She kept to herself on the windowsill however, until that evening when Seth decided to pick her up and carry her across the kitchen. The rest of us were in the living room visiting and talking, but when Winter saw what Seth was doing she playfully ran over to him, hopping up and down trying to tease Sammie. Sam’s tail was unfortunately just within reach and when Winter snapped at it, she went crazy in Seth’s arms and flew away across the room, all of us adding to the chaos with our own sounds of alarm. Yelling at Seth, grabbing Lucy off the floor, trying to calm Winter down. Sammie ran right at me and then away, leaving two small but deep scratches on my legs. It was a chaotic moment to say the least, and then Sarah said “What is that on the floor??” I looked out into the kitchen and saw a little pile of black. “It’s Sammie’s fur!” Said Seth, and as Sam raced upstairs I saw that the last fourth of her tail was now just a thin pink blood covered bone. The fur was pulled off, along with all the skin. I was so upset. We passed the night with Sam in our room dripping blood from her tail as she restlessly went from bed to floor to table to windowsill and everywhere else, it was very disturbing. Rich and I spent time that next morning of the 4th wiping up cat blood with Clorox wipes because who can bandage and staunch the flow of blood from the end of a cat’s tail? I began calling it her “red paintbrush” but honestly my nerves were on edge what with the house full of family and now an injured best friend cat to feel sorry for.
And so it was that on the Fourth of July, Sierra and I took Sam to get a fourth of her tail taken off at an emergency vet in Meredith. Our appointment was at 8pm and the crowds gathering for fireworks were immense. We got Sam settled at her appointment, signed the papers, and passed the time by going to get ice cream at Ben and Jerry’s along with one hundred other people……
Sam made it through just fine, and we brought her back home on Serra’s lap in her cardboard box of a cat carrier, watching the fireworks out the windows, and sitting in traffic for lengths of time.
She’ll spend the rest of her life with a shortened tail, but she’s still so pretty in my eyes.
Sammie’s paperwork
Right now she’s hiding in a cupboard in the bathroom. She doesn’t want to be anywhere near the dog. And who can blame her?
We have a new story to tell every Fourth of July.
PS it was also Brogan’s birthday (our son in law) Happy Birthday Brogan!!
Good to be Home 