One of our kids hurt herself. No, I’m not talking about our daughter, nor our son-in-law, not any of the grandkids. I’m talking about Snowflake—one of our two cats.

Sometime Saturday while we were out she hurt her front leg or paw. We’re not sure which. She can hobble around a bit. Enough to get to the dinner/water bowls and the cat-box but little more than that.

She’s not running down the hall into the bedroom and leaping on the bed while I’m reading. She’s not chasing Amber our other cat nor is she participating in the usual daily cat races from down in my office, up the stairs around through the living room and kitchen then down the hall to our bedroom. She just snuggles up to us and seldom moves.

We have an appointment with a local veterinarian later this morning. I pray her injury is nothing more than a slight sprain. I miss her playfulness even when she gets irritating. I miss her pouncing on her mother, our other cat. I miss the cat races.

I know there are many people who don’t own pets, especially house pets. They can’t understand why people would want to live with smelly, shedding animals. I feel sorry for these people. They have a defect, a callousness about them at times. They perceive cats, dogs, hamsters, even horses as nothing more than simple animals, and unproductive animals at that. They are missing one of the joys in life.

Perhaps it is best that some people don’t have pets. They’d soon tire of them and after a careless moment, another cat or dog or whatever would escape to wander, fend for themselves and soon to die on a highway or to a predator.

For us, we’ll take Snowflake to the vet. We’ll have her injury attended and we’ll take care of her—as she would for us if she were capable.

UPDATE: We’ve just returned from the vet.  Snowflake had a fleshy growth where one of her front claws used to be. She was declawed before we got her. That growth, for some reason, had become sensitive. She didn’t have any apparent infection, nor fever.

A shot and a quick snip removed the growth and she appears to be walking much better. We’ll see after the pain-killer wears off.

All in all, we’re greatly relieved.