Kāhili's Story

Those of you who followed Tommy's health condition 3-4 years ago on the Animal Communicators Group in Facebook, know why and how this little ginger boy came into our life.

Secretly I had hoped that Tommy will come back into our life as a ginger kitten. I was desperate to have him back and was looking for signs everywhere that can lead me to him in his new vassel. I needed to ease my pain from my grief.

I found feathers that held meaning, heart shaped kitten food in the snow outside (where there should be none) and little anomalous quirks that I hoped were just that, signs of my desire.

Tommy died on January 28th and on March 29th I was outside tending to Rosie's and Tommy's graves when all a sudden this little pile of leaves had this beautiful spiralling dance around me. It was a whirling little caress of dead leaves come to life all around me.There was no wind nor breeze out there. My husband had just come outside and he saw this little whirlwind. I was smiling and told him, "That's my Boy!" At that time I did not yet know but a little ginger was born and was about to make me aware of his arrival.

He was in the Brown County Humane Society, New Ulm, MN 125 miles away from us. I was checking in at all the shelters and rescues online. A stray momma cat called 'Goat' with her six kittens were just born that day and there were three orange kittens (all boys) in the litter. My heart was beating so hard with excitement as I followed the Humane Society's posts, watching the photos of how these kittens grew. I contacted the worker there and told her that I need one ginger kitten and we will going to see them. She was asking, do I want the one with a white back legs? I said, wow, how did you know that?

Two weeks after their birth we arrived to the shelter and she was surprised but thankful that we came all that way to see 'Goat' and her litter of delightful little puff balls. I had a chance to hold the kitten, snuggle with him and I was in love. Though the future little Kāhili took most of my attention and heart. He had peed in his travel kennel and that too was adorable to me. :) We paid the adoption fee and filed out the paperwork. We would still need to wait a while for them to reach an age they could be weaned and then separated from 'Goat'.

Later that day I saw a cute post with a photo of Baby Kāhili and hes mommy and it mentioned he was no longer available. I was beaming with pride in knowing that I was his new hooman mommy.

A cute note from the shelter lady after our visit:

"DON'T CRY MOMMIE

Today I stumbled from our bed. A very nice lady picked me and hugged and cuddled me. Said I was hers. I liked the love I felt from her and her husband. They filled out the adoption form and in a few weeks will I go live with these wonderful people in my forever home. Then I was placed back in the kennel by my siblings and my mommie. Then I noticed my mommie was kind of sad and I said Don't cry mommie, mommie please don't cry. You still got me and my 5 siblings for a few more weeks. Together we will have lots of fun. Mommie please Smile again and let us crawl all over you and let us sit on you back again when your laying down. But mommie please don't cry. We will find a brand new mommie and so will you, cause you a very sweet and great mommie, so please don't cry. I know we will be the last of you children, and you take such good care of us, and love us and feed us and cuddle us when we are scared and comfort us every time we cry, Tonight will be the same and we love you for it. It will hurt all of us when it is time go our separate ways when we get weaned from you. At first it seems cruel, and don't seem right. But we will be fine, cause you are teaching us to be strong good kitties. We will always love you, so mommie please don't cry." Then I noticed my mommie was kind of sad and I said Don't cry mommie, mommie please don't cry. You still got me and my 5 siblings for a few more weeks. Together we will have lots of fun. Mommie please Smile again and let us crawl all over you and let us sit on you back again when your laying down. But mommie please don't cry. We will find a brand new mommie and so will you, cause you a very sweet and great mommie, so please don't cry. I know we will be the last of you children, and you take such good care of us, and love us and feed us and cuddle us when we are scared and comfort us every time we cry, Tonight will be the same and we love you for it. It will hurt all of us when it is time go our separate ways when we get weaned from you. At first it seems cruel, and don't seem right. But we will be fine, cause you are teaching us to be strong good kitties. We will always love you, so mommie please don't cry."

He definitely helped me to go through the grief after Tommy passed. Somehow, he healed my heart, eased my pain and allowed me the redemption to apply my new found knowledge on animal medical observation. I vowed to never be complacent and to not be overly enamored in the opinion of just one doctor of veterinary medicine. He's a shy boy and very jumpy from even the smallest of noises but at night he comes close to me to rub his belly, massage his back and he's purring away. In early "morning", approximately 2-3PM, he's the first one who makes trouble. A constant barrage of noises in order to make sure I won't sleep any longer and feed him right away. To achieve this goal of getting me out of the bed, he is really doing his best by banging the doors and even rattling Tommy's picture off the wall. He knows the connection and what it means so how can I get mad at him, though I pretend to be and tell him so.

Kāhili will be three years old on March 29th, 2020 and each of his birthday is now a reminder of Tommy's passing and my healing.

Kāhili arrived just 60 days after Tommy crossed the bridge into the great hereafter. He's a big boy now and about 15 lbs. With fat fuzzy cheeks and a proud fluffy butt he likes to show off. He earned his pretty name after Uncle Tommy who once lived in Hawai'i and showed up into my life in the right moment. "Tommy2" has a little more bravado but he has earned it after his ordeal.

Mr. Mau's Story

In August 2018 I was gardening in the pollinator garden, digging a hole for a new flowering shrub. I got a few minutes break and was stretching my back when I felt sad again about Tommy. He was my best Ginger cat who had lost his battle with cancer just a little more than a year ago. I looked up at the sky and was asking out loud; "Where are you Tommy?" Since I have always believed in signs of a Spirit, I was hoping that one day I would get a message from him. As soon as I was ready to continue to dig a little deeper I heard a gentle meow.

I could not believed what I was seeing and had to blink. There was a skinny white-ginger cat just a few feet away, continuing this gentle greeting. At first he was shy but that only lasted for few minutes. He came closer to me, rubbed himself against my legs and looked into my eyes with a happy little hope. It was immediately obvious that he was a mature male cat.

My excitement grew and I went towards the house to let my husband know we had a new arrival. I asked him to bring out a can of cat food as I kept asking the kitty; Where you came from? Who are you? He answered: Mau. I asked him is that your name Mau? He said Mau. haha. That sounded silly but for me it was such a gentle and loving introduction.
Mr. Mau finished two cans of food in the first five to ten minutes.

Hubby stayed outside with us and he already adopted Mau. He held him, hugged him and kissed him. That was the moment I saw some worms just "jump" out from his little butt. I gave him dewormer immediately as well as sending my husband to our local vet to get something a bit more extensive since I had seen at least two or three different kinds of worms in him. The poor thing was so infested with parasitic worms that his anus and surrounding area was swollen.

We let Mau get used to us before attempting to bring him inside. We kept the garage door open for him at night time as well as the truck windows. We caught him sleeping inside of the truck many times, especially during heavy rain and storms.

One morning I saw him eating rodents and then a roadside squirrel. I told myself THAT's IT! No more disgusting food for him. I was upset that his continued wild diet would negate the dewormer and keep him in a cycle of infestation and then dewormer medicines. Since he was so nice and kind he let me to trim his claws and took him inside the shower. I gave him shower and we provided him an isolation room upstairs.
In the meanwhile we scheduled an appointment with the vet and started a Fundraiser for him. Through the kind donations of his new fans, more than enough for his first veterinary appointment and neuter operation was achieved. Mr. Mau was isolated for four weeks until he was cleared from worms, parasites and ear mites. Don't worry that we left him all alone. Hubby stayed with him all that time and they made friends.
I took him outside with a harness so he was easier to adjust to his new life. It did not take too long for him to get used to the clean, warm house with food, treats and other pets. He easily made friends with Kahili, the only other male cat here. They have became best buddies, but Mr. Mau is such a gentle cat, that he friends with all the pets here.

One year after we rescued him, a tiny black kitten (Augustina) found us as well. Mr. Mau loved this tiny kitten as well and they became friends. One day I caught Mau and Augustina on the window bed looking outside and he had one paw hugging her. Probably he was just telling the story to her of how he had arrived here and was now fat and happy and that she had come to the right house.