Ode to Butterscotch
August 5th 2008 21:00
When Butterscotch went missing, I was trying to think of what to say to my friend Brett. I didn’t want him to lose hope. Nor did I want him to feel guilty or blame himself for what happened. I wanted to comfort him but what do you say at a time like this?
Two people had said to me, “It’s only a cat,” and “It’s not your cat.” It was as if they were trying to tell me losing a pet wasn’t as important as losing a human being and that because Butterscotch wasn’t my pet, I shouldn’t be so sad about it. I disagree. Obviously an attachment had been formed and to me, the issue of who Butterscotch belongs to is irrelevant.
I spent hours thinking about Butterscotch when he was missing. It had been raining that week and all I could think of was him being wet, cold, hungry and lost. I could see him raiding people’s bins, looking for food. I could also see him sleeping under a car, his only shelter from the rain. The only good thing about the rain was at least I knew he had access to water.
I had planned to tell Brett that even if the worst case scenario occurs not to blame himself. After all, he had rescued Butterscotch from an animal shelter. So even if Butterscotch never came back or had died, at least Brett could take comfort in the fact he had given a loving home to a cat that may otherwise have been put down. Brett valued quality over quantity of life which led to our many debates about whether or not to keep his cats indoors. Brett argued that cats loved being outdoors and he thought it was cruel to keep them inside all the time. I, on the other hand, argued there was no point letting them out unless he had an enclosure for them so at least they would be safe from escaping and predators. In the past, Brett refused to budge. The irony is now that he has found Butterscotch, he won’t let his cats out anymore.
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