Just Passing Through
He was found wandering
South of the city
Some time ago
Captured
Taken to the pound
No chip
No one looking for him
That’s where our neighbour found him
Nameless and alone
I heard him arrive home
A Cat’s desperate cry
Brought me to the garden
Certain some poor creature
Lay injured
Needing help
We smiled as she held him
And so it began
Two weeks later
He was on the way back
To the pound
To a fatal end
Some among his rescuers had
Developed serious allergies
We had been cat people
Katy our Calico
Lived to the grand old age of 22
Before her kidneys failed
For a while she shared us with William
A longhaired black and white stray
Adopted us when he was 7years old
He was an insect collector
Specialising in cicadas and stick insects
Living a further full 10 years
From a moth-eaten infected stray
He emerged; a prizewinning longhair
With a plumed tail and an attitude to match
Recently we had been cat-sitting
For several family members
We’d rediscovered the pleasure
The unique company cats bring
So when told of his fate
Words slipped off my tongue with ease
‘Bring him over we’ll have him’
So a 7 year old Tokenise
Came to stay at Hilltop
That first 24 hrs was a nightmare
We, intent upon keeping him in
He, just as intent to escape
More and more desperate until
Pushing out a fly screen he took off
Certain we would never see him again
It was all astonishment when
24 hrs later to the same window
He demanded to come in
We felt it was then that he chose us
We bumped along together
Learning each other’s ways
He surprised me so many times
Teaching me a great deal
Sitting outside the shower
He’d howl loudly, desperately
Until I emerged safe and sound
At night he’d pace a circuit
Around and over our chairs
Until we went to bed
Where he would curl up at our feet
Whenever company arrived
He’d disappear
So when the grandchildren came to stay
We expected to see little of him
How wrong we were
The kids are small
Their arrival is noisy
Clumsy as they drag
Suitcases, coats and teddies to their room
They are arms, legs and laughter
One vigorous ball
That rolls in like the circus
And right there in the middle of it all
Jasper, tail up trotted along with them
On their last visit he sat at the bedroom door
Checking we’d settled them in properly
He didn’t sleep on their beds
Taking quiet body warmth for him self
It was their wide awake company he craved
Next morning there he was
Sitting on the pew at breakfast
Not begging for food
Just watching and listening
Lapping up the busyness of family life
His naming was typical of the opinions he expressed
Our neighbour’s children had started to call him Ziggy
He wasn’t responding to that
We all thought perhaps Oscar might suit
Not a whisker twitched
He was pacing when I suggested Raj
He stopped and gave me a withering glance
As if to say you can do better than that
So when I spoke the name Jasper
With body language and voice peculiar to him
He made it clear I had found his chosen name
Jasper loved to help in the garden
Sitting close by
In danger of being weeded with the rest
I’ve been trying to think how he did it
But he gradually eased me into an evening walk
Around the house and garden
A gentle stroll
Jasper stayed with me the whole time
Keeping company
Like most Oriental cats he felt the cold
He would have loved the log fire we are planning
However events have over taken us
Now Jasper lies in a garden grave
Near the rocks where we’d sit
A few oh so short months
And he’s gone
During his stay
When his character began to change
I thought him depressed
In need of company perhaps
Turns out he was ill
Critically ill
By the time we realised, his infections where numerous
Slow release antibiotics enabled the real Jasper to re-emerge
For a little while
Then we could see how very ill he was
I made the heavy decision to have him euthanized
I held him as he drifted off into the peace for which we
prayed
I still agonise over having to draw his life to a close
Perhaps we could have done something more
But once diagnosed
The vet declared
‘Keep him in at all times’
He would have hated that
Even with our netted enclosure
For years he’d clearly had the freedom to roam
Though we kept him in at night
During the day he’d go out
Visit the neighbours
Many of whom knew and loved him
Or he would lounge in several select sunny spots
The effect of antibiotics would not have lasted
It was a serious virus ravaging his immune system
He was not with us long
Eight Months
It might have been eight years
Such an impact he made on both of us
He had been well loved by others
His pages were not blank
What was written there was a delight to read
I am relieved God has the final say
Over Human Life and Death
I hated that terrible burden
Even for a Cat
I am content to leave it to the Master
Not all is meant forever
Some Joys
Some Blessings
Some Loved Ones
And Friends are…
Just passing through
Vale Jasper
Word and photographs © Denise Stanford 2011
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome is a virus that destroys
white blood cells, reducing the body’s ability to fight infection
Feline Immunodeficiency Virus or Feline AIDS is passed on
through a bite from an infected cat
The Vets tell us very likely he had been infected long
before he came to us
After an initial infection the virus can remain dormant for
several years
But once reactivated the virus debilitates the cat leaving
approximately one year before the body fails altogether
Testing and Immunisation is available
Though not yet perfected it is better than nothing
Only responsible pet ownership can contain this terrible
infection
Cats cannot pass this virus to humans
Within the Vine 
I never thought of it that way, well put!