The Positive Physical Vibration

Times have been tumultuous in the household with personal clashes due to egos, monetary challenges and, the latest, the loss of my wife's dog.

The loss was unexpected. In fact, my wife just had her bred. She spoke with the original dog breeder, who agreed that the dog, a shih tzu, was ready to breed. They were speculating on a litter of 3 to 6 puppies and deciding on what should happen to the puppies after their weening.

For her part, the dog went to the breeders, was introduced to her breeding partner and was successfully impregnated. Upon her return home, she wasn't feeling well, which was attributed to doggy morning sickness. She wagged her tail, but she moped around a lot. The kids did what they could to play with her and give her some human interaction and there were times when she responded. More often, though, she would wag her tail and seem interested, but couldn't summon the strength to play for long periods of time.

Today, my wife took her to the vet who explained that they were going to have to give her fluids and see if she would respond to that. Soon after the received the fluids, she went into some sort of pancreatic shock which spelled the beginning of the end. She died a short time later.

To say that my wife was broken up would be an incredible understatement. She finished her day at work somehow and got herself home, after which she wept nearly non-stop until she finally succumbed to sleep. The kids were upset and spent time in open weeping as well.

During this time, my cat Blanca went around to each crying person and spent time near them. When she could, she climbed up to them and began a routine where she marches on them with her front paws. I've been told that this is to show affection because this is something kittens do with their mothers when they are nursing. With my son, in particular, when he was laying down to go to sleep for the night, she climbed on his back and did her marching routine (which we have nicknamed "making muffins"). During that time, she was purring loudly; louder than she does when I'm petting her.

That's when it dawned on me that my cat, unfettered by a human ego, was trying to pass on positive vibrations to the grieving members of my family. Oh, I'm sure the argument will be made that I am anthropomorphizing my cat to an unbelievable degree, but the logic seems to work. Trying to cheer up people who are feeling down is something Blanca has done ever since we became her owners. Is it such a stretch to draw the conclusion that she is using her positive vibrations for the benefit of the family?

I like to think so.