Shepherdess: January 2013

Love is Kind

Benjamin after his first of several baths

Because of what he'd already been through, this little kitten should have been anything but loving or kind...

The first time I saw Benjamin he was in a rusty, filthy cage with another kitten. His white fur was coated in a thick, yellowish oil that looked much like motor oil and he had dried feces matted into his fur that had been there for quite some time. As I spoke softly to the little kitten he would not even look up at me.

I put on my gloves before I reached into the cage to lift Benjamin out, unsure if he would attack me when I touched him. That happens sometimes when cats have been continually mistreated, mishandled or are too afraid of people and I have come to believe, after many years of rescue experience, that many so called behavior problems in animals are man made. As I touched him Benjamin just went limp.

That day I took Benjamin and 3 other cats home along with a mother dog and her 2, 8-week-old puppies that the former "owner" had threatened to shoot if I did not take. Benjamin was in the worst shape of all the animals I rescued that day.

I usually like to wait a while before I give the new cats a bath since I don't want them to go through yet another negative experience after just being rescued. But Benjamin was so filthy I knew it wasn't healthy to wait for his first bath. I had to get that oil off of him before he ingested too much of it and I knew the dried feces had to be washed off him too.

I armed myself for battle by putting on a thick, quilted plaid shirt and once again put on gloves. I filled the bathroom sink with warm water and slowly lowered the kitten into it. For the first time Benjamin's big sad eyes looked up into mine and he purred. He purred...

The oil slowly came off with repeated washing using mild detergent. The dried feces was matted to his skin and had to be carefully and meticulously cut off or it would actually tear his skin causing it to bleed. Through it all, Benjamin looked lovingly, trustingly, into my eyes and purred. When his bath was finished I wrapped him in a big fluffy warm towel and sat him in my lap. He fell asleep purring.

When he woke he was a new kitten. It was as if all his dirty, ugly past was washed away and went down the drain and a new clean beginning took its place. It was amazing and unlike anything I had ever seen before.

I put him back with the other kittens and he played with them as if his life had always been that way. He climbed and rolled around and was just so full of joy it brought tears to my eyes. Then he stopped and looked straight into my eyes begging me to pick him up. Being in my arms was not enough for Benjamin so he climbed up on my shoulder and lovingly rubbed his cheek against mine. I cried again at this unexpected act of love and kindness from a kitten who had been shown anything but that his whole, short little life.

Though he should have been anything but loving or kind to humans, this little kitten showed me that even when I am treated less than lovingly I can still be loving and kind--that I don't have to let my past mold my present or future--that just because others may choose to be hateful or unkind to me, I don't have to do the same in return. Bad things happen to us all, what we do with those experiences, how we act in response, makes us who we are.

I Corinthians 13:4 says, in part: "Love is patient, love is kind..." Though I had read that passage so many times in my life, seeing it, feeling it--even though it was from a little abused rescue kitten--made it more real to me than ever before. Maybe that's because it was so pure and so unexpected. Maybe it was because God knew I could learn this lesson best from a tiny kitten named Benjamin. Whatever the case, it's a truth I won't soon forget.

Thank You, Lord, for showing me Your love and truth about kindness no matter what form it comes in.

Benjamin, 4 weeks after his rescue

Wednesday, January 2, 2013