Compassion

While I was at work yesterday, I received a phone call from "Mr". He wanted to bring in an injured cat named Mommy. "Mr" informed me that her jaw was swollen and she had some blood around her nose. He also informed me that Mommy was not his cat, but his elderly neighbors. He felt bad that this woman couldn't financially care for Mommy, so he had taken on the responsibility. I made an appointment and within the hour "Mr." brought Mommy in. 

This cat was such a sweet old girl, she had to have been about 15 years old. You could tell she was loved, and pretty well taken care of. Her little white face was swollen and she couldn't move her jaw. Through her discomfort and obvious pain, all she wanted was some affection, which I gladly gave her.  Mommy rubbed up against my hand, purring and enjoying the attention she was receiving as "Mr" told me what was going on. Apparently Mommy is an outdoor kitty, who shows up to his home on a daily basis. This morning, her visit was more concerning than happy. He had a feeling there was some sort of trauma inflicted to her face, and feared that someone had kicked her. As hard as it was to wrap my head around that, and examination proved that to be likely, and it seemed as though she had a broken jaw. 

After some lengthy tests, and X-rays the doctor determined that her jaw was not broken (insert sigh of relief) but she did have nerve damage. She was given some pain medication and released to the care of "Mr".  I thought about this cat all damn night! I considered all possible ways that this could have happened to her... Anything other than somebody's foot. It made me sad to see such a beautiful, loving creature in such pain, and angered me to think that it would be purposeful. 

 Part of my daily work routine is to make follow up calls, and this afternoon I was certainly not looking forward to calling "Mr" in fear that he might not have good news to share. As I picked up the phone, I could feel myself becoming emotional, almost preparing myself for the worst. "Mr" answered the phone just as I was about to hang up. He told me that Mommy seemed to be in "better spirits" and that he was grateful for all that we did for her. According to "Mr", Mommy is now going to remain an indoor cat and be very well looked after. I expressed to him that his compassion was inspiring to me, and his empathy was something I admired. Before our phone conversation ended, "Mr" left me with this:

"Excellence is achievable, but only if compassion is the bottom line."

This post might have been a little bit of a ramble about an unfortunate kitty, but it all has to do with that sentence.  I only wish more people had compassion. Maybe I am overly sensitive, or emotional.. but this one man, one cat and one sentence has left such an impression on me!