A Glorius Morning for My G-man.

G-man was her name. My son named her.

"It's a female. Why G-man?" I asked.
 
"I don't know. I just like it. But I call her 'G' for short. Can you take care of her  for me, mom?"

"Of course I will, son."

So G stayed.

Several months later, G disappeared. I searched for two hours. She was just gone. Then I found a phone message waiting for me.

"Your cat was hit by a car. She is at the vet's. I told them to keep her alive until you returned." It was Julie. My future sister-in-law. I called her for more information.

"I saw a white fluff on the road's dividing line and thought is was a sweater or a bag. As I  got nearer, I realized it was a cat. When I stepped out, I recognized G. So I brought her to the vet's."

It was now after 5 PM and they were closed for the day. But I called the vet 's office anyway. The vet's assistant let me in and escorted me to G's cage. She was blind, but she recognized my voice and crawled forward. She sat in her water dish but seemed unaware of it. She pleadingly meowed in the direction of my voice. Not only was she blind from the concussion, but her jaw drooped, her hind leg didn't work right and I was sure her head ached. She was dirty, mostly with dried blood about her mouth. My heart ached to see her in such a state.

The assistant spoke with me about G's fate. Because she was blind from a blow to the head and now had a broken jaw and an injury to her hind leg the recommendation was that she be 'put under'.

"What's the alternative?" I asked.

Surgery to save a cat.

"Wire her jaw, and take her home in a week."

"How much will that cost?"

"We'll charge for the surgery, but  she can stay and be attended to for a week for free. Then you can bring her home. We can't make any promises that she will see again."

I agreed. And within a week, I brought G home in an open box.  Her tail wagged when I walked up to our house. She recognized its smells and was happy to return home.

My dog, ShiSha, was excited to see her buddy back home. But after a few sniffs, Shi Sha turned away and presented no further interest in G.

Once inside, I set up a little stage for G on the kitchen floor. A box set on its side placed on a small rug for G to sleep in with her warm, familiar blanket. To the right of the rug, I set a litter box and to the left, I set a water dish and wet food. G learned to stay in that small environment identified by the boundaries of the rug as she waited for me to come home from work. Upon arrival, I placed her in my lap, rocked her like a baby and sang songs of encouragement.

She still had blood stained fur under her chin. When she felt better I washed her fur to remove the stains from her chin down to her chest. Perhaps she could smell the dried blood. Being clean again, she began to regularly wash herself without my assistance.

One day I set G outside in the grass. She was curious and the smells enticed her to explore. I realized she still couldn't see because I had to  rescue her from an imminent fall from the edge of a high wall at the edge of the grass area. ShiSha was not impressed and continued to ignore G.

Weeks later, as I readied for work in early morning, G walked into the bathroom and stopped in front of the long mirror behind the door. I observed from another mirror on the opposite wall. She seemed to watch me through her mirror's reflection of me. I moved my hand. She followed its movement. She meowed.  I picked her up. ShiSha followed me as I brought the cat to the bedroom. I placed her on the bed. She recognized her old play-mate ShiSha looking at her with ears perked and tail wagging. G walked close to the  edge of the bed. The dog and I watched as the cat jumped off the bed!

I can see clearly meow.

"G can see, ShiSha!" The dog got very excited and jumped onto the cat. "No ShiSha, don't hurt her." ShiSha was happy to have her play-mate and buddy back. She also wanted to play with G NOW. I calmed ShiSha who then followed G throughout the house. She didn't bump into furniture and eventually jumped onto the couch. She lovingly grabbed ShiSha's head as she accepted a juicy lick on the cheek from her buddy.

It was a glorious morning for all three of us!