Seventy two-year-old Philomena Rani was recently diagnosed with cancer. She is getting ready to move out of her residence into a home for senior citizens. Though this is a testing time for her, both physically and emotionally, Philomena says that her greatest worry is the family of animals she rescued. She took in a homeless snow white cat and her three kittens when she saw them struggling for life, and has raised them as pampered family members ever since.
“The mother cat waits for me when I return from the market, because she knows I will always bring something for her,” she says wistfully. “They’re intelligent animals who respond when you talk to them. And they are such good companions especially if you are lonely”.
Despite her health problems, she took a young volunteer’s help and arranged for the mother cat’s birth control surgery and ensured that the kittens had a safe place to call home, until it became unfeasible for her to live alone. “I think about them every day and feel sad,” says Philomena who is losing sleep over the idea that when she moves into the assisted living facility, the four of them will be homeless again. She is now looking for adoptive homes for the pets that were there for her during good days and bad, and that the new families will show them the affection that they have grown accustomed to. “If they get a home that will understand and love cats, with people who will not just feed them but also be kind to them, I can go to my new home in peace,” she says. “Until then, I will keep praying for them”.
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