Fly Free Abby

In April 2014, I brought home two kitties from the shelter that was diabetic. I had offered to foster Chandler who I met at the shelter with a bum leg and when I went to pick him up Abby had shown up and needed some care as well.

Fortunately, they got along rather well and I fostered them for a while, got them stable, and returned them to the shelter. Chandler was adopted and lived in a home for a while before he was returned to the shelter and then passed away.

Abby sat in a cage for nearly a year and deteriorated. When I realized she hadn't been adopted and was getting cage aggressive, I would go to the shelter to work with her to try to get her walking around. It was not a solution because I worked full time. It took some work, but we were able to get her into HART who has a number of diabetic cats in their care and a robust network of foster homes who were happy to care for them.

Almost a year after she was in my care, she was in theirs. April 2015 was when I got the last update. Occasionally I would see her networked on social media, but I hadn't heard anything in a while.

I received a message a few minutes ago that Abby had been a nice stable foster home and had been doing very well until recently. Earlier this year she was diagnosed with cancer and it progressed to the point where they felt it was in her best interest to let her go today.

My heart breaks at this news. Not only because of her passing, but also for those people who had been caring for her for the past two years. It is always hard to lose a loved one.