Good Day,
My husband is in Cuba on a well deserved golfing holiday with our brother-in-law and some friends.
I have the place to myself to do as I wish and right now, I am revelling in the quiet and composing this post for your perusal.
One of the, shall we say, less interesting parts of being on my own is that I get to take over my husband’s home tasks for the duration. One of these tasks is providing food, clean water and a clean litter box for our three lovely non human animal companions.
Now, this is not a burden for me. I love the little kittens-even though they are kittens no longer. Chimpy and his mother were rescued, by our vet , from the cold November streets of Montreal.
They were given all of their shots and put up for adoption. This little kitten became a part of our family nine years ago, one month after we adopted Bella from the SPCA.
Rosie is a little cat who wandered into my niece’s backyard just over two years ago.
My kindhearted niece was not having any luck finding a home for the little thing, so I offered to help out. I called nonhuman animal shelters, vets, posted her story on Facebook-you name it, I did it.
The moral of the story is, if you are looking for a home for a homeless nonhuman animal companion, look no further than your own front yard. But I am very happy that we did adopt her. I know that she is safe and loved and will never come to harm in our home.
So, back to my taking care of “The Kittens” while my husband is away story. Providing food for them three times a day is no problem. I feed them during the day when my husband is at work, so no trouble remembering that.
The litter box went un-thought of for two days. Let me tell you, I am so glad I remembered it when I did. So, bang that is taken care of and is on my radar now, so I won’t forget it.
I woke up in the middle of last nite, as I sometimes do, and sauntered down to the kitchen to have a glass of water and to sit for a bit, waiting for the Sandman to do his work and take me off to sleepy time land again.
Rosie got up with me. As I looked over to speak to her, I noticed that she was sitting beside “The Kittens’ ” water bowl which, by now, was bone dry.
“Hey, where is my water?”
No fresh water for them since my husband left in the wee hours of Sunday morning. I am aghast. I am admonishing myself for this huge oversight on my part. I immediately washed the bowl, filled it up it with fresh water and put it down beside Rosie, as I apologized to her.
She had her fill of the freshly poured water, and she and I went to bed. When I woke up in the morning, several hours later, the water bowl was half empty. The poor things must have been very, and I mean very, thirsty. But all is well now. I apologized to Rosie and Bella and will keep a keen watch on the water bowl from now on.
So, the moral of the story is that cats are domesticated nonhuman animals and they benefit from our love and care. I know there are cats who live outside, feral and not (epidemic here in Quebec), but I don’t know how they manage. I do know that cats do not do well in the cold.
And then, I think about all the poor and mistreated non human domestic and wild nonhuman animals(like mink, for instance) who are bred specifically for our own callous use. They are not loved, they are not protected or cared for in a kind way and ultimately they end up on our dinner plate and in our drinking glasses, on our bodies as fashion statements,
on our various pieces of furniture, in purses, wallets, in parks and zoos for our entertainment and in labs(many of these are domesticated nonhuman animals, like dogs) for our research.
These beings once were and still are, in some places on this planet, wild.
Red Jungle fowl
Red Jungle fowl
Wild Pigs
Domesticated, Farmed Beings have been so over bred to suit our cruel industries that often, they no longer resemble their wild counterparts.
Farmed pigs have enormous hind ends for ham, chickens and turkey have huge breasts for our daily chicken addiction and cows have enormous udders to supply the daily secretions for human animals to drink.
These breeding practices have created enormous discomfort and ill health for these fellow beings.
GRAMMIE ANNIE’S VEGAN VIEW
Let’s all stop to reflect for a moment about the prevalent and destructive disconnect between how we view our nonhuman animal companions and those bred solely for our needless consumption.
I believe that the salvation of all animals, ourselves included, lies in reconnecting with nature and how she intended for our nonhuman animals companions to live, to flourish and to contribute.
We can start now by putting down our steak knives, by filling our glasses with water and plant based milks and by using in our baking, plant based substitutes for chicken eggs . Will you join me?
Until next time,
May all beings be happy and free.
Anne
THE KITTENS, THE WATER BOWL AND THE NONHUMAN ANIMAL INDUSTRY!
Hi Anne!
Lovely story and so enjoyed reading it. I am joining you my friend in showing compassion by being vegan. I went vegan in April this year which is now 2016 but am learning so much from all your stories. I wish I had known about your website decades ago. It is an amazing resource
Rachel Weightman