NewFataaFat $06042016$

This is test mail to varify your blog

WPDeals

#235fatafata$101#2016*$NewFataafat085

Emily Brown's invitation is awaiting your response

Emily Brown would like to connect on LinkedIn. How would you like to respond? Emily Brown Writing and Editing Professional Confirm you know Emily You are receiving Reminder emails for pending invitations. Unsubscribe © 2014, LinkedIn Corporation. 2029 Stierlin Ct. Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

Emily Brown's invitation is awaiting your response

Emily Brown would like to connect on LinkedIn. How would you like to respond? Emily Brown Writing and Editing Professional Confirm you know Emily You are receiving Reminder emails for pending invitations. Unsubscribe © 2014, LinkedIn Corporation. 2029 Stierlin Ct. Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

Invitation to connect on LinkedIn

From Emily Brown Writing and Editing Professional Greater New York City Area I'd like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. - Emily Confirm that you know Emily You are receiving Invitation to Connect emails. Unsubscribe © 2014, LinkedIn Corporation. 2029 Stierlin Ct. Mountain View, CA 94043, USA

In Loving Memory of a Great Cat

On November 4, 2009, I had to have the Humane Society put my wonderful cat Billie to sleep.

It wasn't because of the dilemma about needing to find her a home. I'd actually been able to retrieve her earlier that summer and bring her home to the S.R.O. I'd moved to after spending the previous winter in a shelter.

It was because she'd developed a very fast-acting cancer in her chest; one lung had collapsed and filled with fluid. She'd stopped eating about a week before Halloween, and I had no idea that she was mortally ill because she never complained. It still hurts me a lot to talk about the loss, but the long and the short of it is that I'm terribly grateful that I had those last few months with her in a relatively safe place. She passed quietly after a lethal injection at the Humane Society; their staff was amazingly sensitive and professional - which is MUCH more than I could say for the A.S.P.C.A., who I took her to just before Halloween.

Billie had a long and great life. I learned a lot from her - including at the end, about not giving up, and about grace and having a backbone.

SOME BACKGROUND

When I adopted Billie, she was a 3 month old kitten who had been abandoned in a cardboard box with a dish of water on the streets of the East Village. A local cat-friendly schoolteacher fiound her and brought her into the vet's office where I was working at the time as their receptionist. I'd been considering adopting a cat for several months, and helping this abandoned kitten seemed the right thing to do - especially since she seemed to choose ME. Every time I walked by the cage she was living in, she'd reach a paw out and tap my head, and talked to me, nattering at me to get my attention. I spentt three days debating whether or not to take this cat home; on the third morning, the owner of the veterinary practice brought her out of her cage and put her down on my desk and told me she had a gut feeling that this cat was meant for me (and Billie had already wrapped herself around my shoulders like an animated shawl). She's been with me ever since, and has been a fabulous companion animal. I love her dearly, and want more than anything to be reunited with her and to provide a safe and comfortable home for her again. However, I've been apartment hunting since the summer, and the place I've been staying doesn't allow pets. A friend has been boarding her since August, but because her circumstances have changed, she can't continue to take care of Billie past December 31. She's told me that if I don't find another place for Billie by then, she'll take her to a shelter. The thought is absolutely unbearable to me - it would traumatize my cat, I don't want her euthanized (and I know how difficult it is to find a new home for an older animal), and I definitely want my cat back as soon as I have a new home for both of us. I'm desperate at this point because it's been difficult to reach places that provide fostering directly by phone; my brother can't help because he's severly allergic to cats, and I've contacted many of my other friends who haven't been able to help because they either have a full quota of pets already and can't manage another, or their apartments/condos/whatnot have "no pets" rules. So now I have to turn to a larger circle of people for help, and am hoping for a miracle at this point.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

I picked up Billie from my friend's apartment yesterday afternoon, and she's now temporarily staying at my ex's place, camped out in the bathroom to keep her safe from the other cat that lives there (they don't get along, and Stretchy - pictured at left - likes to attack her). It's definitely better than a shelter, but I'm still looking for another foster situation because I don't think this will work out long-term. However, just wanted to let everyone know that for now, Billie's in a relatively safe place and I have no intention of sticking her in a shelter or putting her down.

Still looking for helpful suggestions for a foster arrangement, though - and more leads. I've been making dozens of phone calls and sending out loads of emails and faxes, and hanging signs everywhere I can think of. Thanks in advance for any and all help!

- Emily