My So-Called Yoga Life

Dear diary,

Today my son asked me why our pets always seem to follow me from room to room. He noticed that every time I sit on the couch, our rescue kitty Niu appears almost instantly, curling up beside me. No matter where I am in the house, he finds me. He just wants to be close. And truthfully, I feel the same. It made me pause and realize how much this little soul and I have leaned on each other. We’ve been through so much together, and this felt like the perfect moment to tell that story.

It was in May 2021 when I saw the adoption photo of a little 12 week old kitten on a rescue website. He was a tabby, with little white mittens on his paws and a little white patch on his nose. His sweet little sad eyes tugged at my heart and I knew he was the one. I made arrangements to pick him up the morning he had just arrived from Egypt. We came home and made him cozy in our spare room so my cat Shindiggy could take some time to get used to having another kitty in the house. My daughter searched for suitable names and settled on the name Niu. Our little Niu purred so loud, he slowly opened and closed his eyes as he picked up one front white mitten paw at a time while we scratched his little back. He was so cute and loving.

Not long after, I discovered some unusual open sores on his little body and we went to the vet. Turns out, he was covered in ringworm. Not such a big deal for people, but for pets it can mean euthanasia. You see, in order to stop it from spreading, all the items the animal touches have to be disinfected daily.  Niu was prescribed medicated shampoo and had to have baths three times a week, have a topical medication applied to the lesions and take an oral medication daily. The vet told me I could think about returning the kitten, but we both knew it was highly unlikely he would ever get adopted or he would be euthanized because the expense and care needed to rehabilitate at a shelter is too much. 

Knowing that wasn’t an option, and having a background in infection control, I knew what to do. Every day I came into his room, vacuumed, cleaned and disinfected everything in the room, including the walls 3 ft and down, played with him, applied his medicine cream, fed him and then left the room. The whole process took about 2 hours and I would put everything I wore in the room directly into the wash and gave Niu a fresh, clean towel to use as a blanket.  I would go back in to play with him two more times during the day and then leave him for the night. Sometimes I would hear him meow softly in the darkness and it made me feel sad that he was in there all alone. But I knew it had to be done. After a few weeks, we would go to the vet to have his skin checked and blood work done because the oral medication was pretty hard on his little liver and kidneys. His pretty long white whiskers would break a lot and his fur was matted with little bald spots all over his body. There was a chance he might get some permanent  organ damage, but we remained hopeful and determined to heal my little kitty.

Niu didn’t stop purring, and even though his little legs shivered in the shower stall while we left the medicated shampoo on his skin for 10 minutes, he was vibrant and always happy to play and see me come in to visit him. 

At night, when I lay in bed, I would imagine the day he was healed and could run freely around the house, sun himself on the bed and enjoy his life. It occupied my mind often, and it helped keep me focused as the time wore on.

After 4 months and several visits to the vet later, I went through his little fur with the black light to see if there was any infected skin left. There were a few times already when it looked like he might be done, but then another large lesion would pop up. There were just so many. On his little  toes, his nose, his ears, body and tail, so I tried not to get too excited. But this time was different. There was no active infection visible anywhere. Infected skin would appear with little lime green follicles in the black light, but this time there were none! I bathed him in the shampoo one last time and then got ready to let him walk out of the bathroom. 

My eyes filled with tears of joy. My son and daughter were there too and we watched him look up at me as he slowly tip toed his little way out of the bathroom. His eyes were wide and then a second later, he ran down the hall, down the stairs, around the house and right back up to us. He was so happy! We were too.

A few months later, I gazed down at my content, purring kitty, admired his long, beautiful white whiskers and whispered, “this is the life that was meant for you.” My heart was bursting with emotions at that moment. I remembered his little sad eyes in the photo those months earlier and all we had been through. He needed me and through it all, I realized that I needed him too. He is the smartest and most loving cat and even though it was a difficult time, I wouldn’t change a thing.

He follows me around all the time and watches me intently when I clean the house. I’ll often look at him and wonder if he is remembering his room and when he would watch me clean it every day for him. 

All my life, I’ve loved animals. I’ve always admired the people who step forward to protect them, to advocate for them, and to give them a second chance. But I’m especially grateful that I’ve been able to do that in my own small way, by rescuing my pets.

And that’s the story of my Niu, one special soul that was meant to be with me in this life. I will be forever grateful to share it with him. The meaningful bond we share has been the most beautiful gift of all. 

Love,

Lisa xo