Memorial to Whisper – August 7, 2022

Today we lost a giant soul in a horse body. Our dear Whisper left us unexpectedly. She was 30 years old. We had the honor of spending the last 10 years of Whisper’s life together. She was absolutely gorgeous. She was also not an easy horse. Whisper was a perfect blend of being a dignified lady with a clear mind of her own as well as being very stubborn and set in her ways. She could be ornery at times, especially if she felt she wasn’t being heard or understood. But Whisper was also a gentle soul deep within. Whisper often quietly just hung in the background. She preferred her own company rather than that of other horses. Although she loved one gelding named Buster when he was still alive and she liked sharing pasture time with him. Otherwise, she was mostly a loner, yet she never truly wanted to be alone. Her caretakers understood her and she was very loved here.

All of us will miss the special nicker when she saw us coming to the fence to see her. We will miss the gentle but excited whinny when she knew it was time for her food to arrive and the enthusiasm with which she greeted the deliverer of her meals. We will miss her cantankerous kicking in her shed – often for no understandable reason other than to make a fuss.

And oh how we will miss seeing her lying in her favorite spot outside of her shed on the hillside, flat on her side, sun bathing on even the hottest of days. She loved soaking in the heat and penetrating warmth of the sun.

Whisper had come to us with severe leg injuries from neglect. While her legs could never recover from the severity of those injuries, we kept her comfortable with medications and special foot trimming and lots of help from her veterinary team. But the deepest scars, we think, were to her heart. Whisper held that trauma deeply with a sense of betrayal that was difficult for her to heal. She carried a grudge and we understood why.

In what became her final months, Whisper became a favorite to visitors on tours. She decided to participate with visitors for the first time in 10 years. She surprised us all. She’d whinny and come plodding over to the fence and stand there and let children and adults alike pet and stroke her. She often even greeted them with that low nicker that all of her caretakers knew so well. It was the sound of a tender heart and we knew under all her gruffness, that tenderness was very much still in there.

Today, we found her not willing to eat her breakfast which was highly unusual. We quickly realized we had a sick horse and veterinary exam revealed a twist in her small intestine. She was not a surgical candidate and the only choice was to help her to go. Run free girl. And know that the love you left with is the greatest healer of all.

Celebrating the Life of O’Malley

This week we lost one of the biggest characters in cat form that we have had here at Spring Farm CARES. O’Malley was larger than life and one of a kind. He had many nicknames over the years but most prominent was Mr. O’Malley or Professor O’Malley. He just had that sort of persona that deserved a title of respect.

O’Malley came to the farm when he was found as a stray in very poor condition. He hardly had any hair and was covered in open sores. It turned out that O’Malley was FIV positive and that autoimmune disease was causing or contributing to his skin condition. It took months and months of medications and daily baths to finally get him through it. Now this illustrates just how unique O’Malley was because he LOVED his baths. We had never seen a cat like baths as much as he did.

O’Malley’s trademark was his incredible purr and his incessant drooling when he was happy. He loved to be held and carried around and cuddled. And whoever did so, was sure to be soaked from his drool. He also loved to be dressed up in outfits. This all started when we had to put little shirts on him to protect his skin and keep him from licking himself. But out of that grew a whole line of customized O’Malley wardrobe. He even had some with his name embroidered on them.

O’Malley was as easy going as could be. He was an ambassador for peace and love. His energy was deeply appreciated and anyone who spent time with him ended up with the therapeutic benefits of being loved by him. He was an old soul in a cat body. And he was so loved.

One of the greatest things we witnessed through all the years that O’Malley shared with us, is how he made people feel. O’Malley had the greatest ability to connect deeply and embed himself deep within the hearts of those who chose to connect with him that way. And he had a way of letting each of them know that they were his absolute favorite person. Writing this from a Director’s chair, I can tell you that there are several people out there who know for sure that they were O’Malley’s cherished friend. His favorite. And he meant it! He was not just saying that. This was the very special gift that O’Malley had. It came from his soul, through his heart, and into the hearts of those he loved. This included veterinarians, caretakers, volunteers, and even visitors. To have felt this myself and watched him do this with others was something I have cherished about him. He had a magical way of making you feel incredibly special. And it was genuine.

In the end, his heart and lungs gave out to the disease he had kept at bay for so long. His body could no longer continue and it was time to help ease his transition. As we sat with him in those final moments, O’Malley continued to radiate that peace and love and compassion. It’s been an honor Mr. O’Malley! We say good-bye with tears but with profound gratitude for all that you brought to so many hearts.

Two Memorials: In Memory of Izzy and Max

This has been a challenging week for all of us at Spring Farm CARES. We had two cats who passed away on the same day, just hours apart. One passing was expected as she was peacefully transitioning after 17 amazing years with us. The other was a complete shock. Normally, we would be doing two separate memorials as each of these beings was so different and brought so many different things to this farm. However, for some reason, it feels that they need to be written together so we will honor that for them.

Izzy

Our beloved barn cat Izzy, age 17, peacefully left this farm and joined her littermate sister Bella in spirit. Izzy and Bella came here at just a few weeks old. They were born on a farm and it just so happened that we were looking for the right pair of barn cats for our barn. Because they already knew the ropes of barn life, we felt they were the right pair to try. However, Izzy had a severe eye infection that needed a lot of medical care and that is why the previous farm asked if we could take the two of them together. In the end, we couldn’t save Izzy’s eye and it had to be removed. But that never slowed her down a bit. Izzy and Bella were the head barn keepers for about 14 years together. We lost Bella two years ago to renal disease. Izzy insisted she’d be ok and stayed on in the barn. We had offered her a spot indoors if she wanted to retire but she was just not ready to do that. We know she missed her sister terribly. But she told Dawn that she now had to work for two of them and that is how she wanted to honor Bella most.

We watched as Izzy also started to age. She also had early signs of renal disease. Being a head barn cat is not an easy job. It’s a huge responsibility. Izzy and Bella did their jobs extraordinarily well. Many visitors to the farm hold incredibly warm memories of one or both of them as they showed visitors around the barn and made sure everyone was accounted for. Two years ago, our barn was visited by a mink who was determined to get our ducks, chickens, and goose. We had to evacuate the fowl from the barn until we could capture and relocate this mink who thought he found his free meal ticket. Izzy went inside. At first, she was not so thrilled with the idea. She’d sit in the window looking out over the farm and we could all feel how badly she wanted to get back to work. But the nights were getting cold and she ended up inside for a couple of weeks before the mink was caught and relocated. By then, Izzy decided that maybe it indeed was ok to retire and have a different life. She lived in our Library where we also hosted workshops and she still got to greet and visit with people. She loved her new life, helping in the office and sleeping in a nice soft bed in the sun.

Izzy had been slowly fading in the past couple of weeks. We knew she would be leaving us soon but she was comfortable and peaceful. Izzy passed in her favorite bed with the most amazing grace and peace and dignity. She quietly slipped away and joined Bella who we know was waiting for her. We are honored to have had Izzy with us for all these years. It was wonderful to see her enjoy every single aspect of her life. Bella was the same. They radiated joy and happiness and contentment. And what they gave to us and to so many other animals and humans over these years is more than we can even know or express.

Max

Max left us completely unexpectedly. He was only 8 years old. While we were holding space and keeping watch over Izzy, Max was just feet away in his own area where he slept for the night.  We were shocked beyond words to go over to give him his breakfast only to find that he had passed. He gave us no indication at all that anything was wrong with him. Max had many medical issues, but nothing that seemed remotely indicative that he was ill at all. Max left without explanation or any way to say good-bye. But that was so like Max. He wouldn’t have wanted his special people to be sad. Yet, sad we are. Heartbroken for our loss, even though we know he is ok. Because of Max’s medical situation, there are numerous ways his life could have gotten difficult. He had been through a lot already. But Max was filled with life and with joy.

Some of you may remember when we featured stories of Max in the past year. He came to us in 2016 after he was hit by a car and lost the use of his bowel and bladder. We spent years expressing his bladder for him until one day something stopped working in his bladder altogether and we could no longer manually express it for him. Right there would have been the end of the line for Max. But his journey continued on with him riding each wave with joy. Thanks to our own on-staff veterinarian and Max’s best friend Dr. Christine, we found alternative options to help him. Many may have considered it radical and for many cats we would have too and would have never done it. But Max was clearly all in. He was amazing. A medical apparatus was surgically installed into his bladder that emptied out through an external port in his abdomen where we could attach a syringe and empty his bladder three times a day. Max took to this port very well. And his life improved dramatically. Max was Dr. Christine’s office mate and he adored her. We have photos and videos of him, even just in his last few days, where he was lounging on his bed on her desk and purring and kneading and clearly beyond overjoyed with his life. Max was a huge spirit. He literally filled a room when he was in it. And now, there is a huge hole in his absence. It is hard to understand from our perspective why this would happen and why now. He was at the top of his game. But for Max, when we really look at Max and understand who he is and how he moved through his life, it is actually not surprising. Max lived on his terms. He beat the odds so many times out of shear will and desire to be here. Max was also impulsive at times, bolting out a door when he knew he wasn’t supposed to. Leaving people exasperatingly shouting “ugh, Max got out again!” I think he loved to watch us scrambling after him. It was the game, the joy, the challenge. It was Max simply being Max. So when he bolted out that final door, he left us all scrambling. Trying to make sense of something we can’t make sense of. Yet, knowing in our hearts, that Max was simply being Max. Grateful for all we gave him. Grateful for every second. But now it was time to go.

We want to thank Dr. Marcus Hetzner and Dr. Paul Bookbinder for not just their surgical skills but for their willingness to step outside the box for Max. What you gave him by being brave enough to do so made a whole world of difference to one cat and you have a debt of gratitude from everyone who loved that one big soul in a gorgeous cat body.

Oh, and one last thing Max…. since you bolted out another door…. We will say what we always used to say to you when you did that.

Max, you’d better get back here!