The Feline Therapist

by Cathy Ferrelli
(South Park, Pennsylvania)

A stock photo of a child and a cat...

One day in the late fall of 2006, we had a visitor. A beautiful furry kitten. It was a long haired tabby/maine coon mix. He was frightened of us, and only came onto the porch to eat the food we offered him when we were back inside. Over time, we gained his trust and Spunky Joe started to come inside for night and naps. Other times he slept in a cardboard box with a jacket in it. Over the next several months, we learned he was about 8 months old, got him neutered, and loved him dearly.

Spunky was most unusual in that he had great concern for our children. We have three little ones, two of whom are special needs kids. When they took walks with their therapists, Spunky would follow along like a dog, sometimes dashing into the woods momentarily to hunt down a chipmunk, bird, etc. However, he always returned to his job as an escort. When our 2 year old cried, he comforted her. Spunky turned 1 in July, 2007, when Giana turned 2 - guess they were toddler playmates.

Sadly, we lost Spunky on October 15, 2007. He left our yard around 4:30 pm to explore the woods next to our home, and never came home. I called him until 10:30 (he knew his curfew was 8-8:30 each night so this was odd). The following day, my husband found his body. He looked like he was asleep except for some blood trickling from his mouth. We will never know how we lost him, but we are devastated that we have lost our one year old child.

I just placed a candle on his grave that has three angels on it. Spunky was in charge of our three kids during his brief life, and now he will help someone else over the Rainbow Bridge. We miss you Spunky Joe.



Editors Note: I think Spunky Joe will continue watching over these children. I think he wanted to be bigger than his body would let him and he wanted to be in more places.