Writing, Kittens and Other Miracles

jane-austens-dogSometimes art, or at least my books, imitates something in my life. And sometimes my life imitates my books. That’s what I’ve been experiencing lately. In my recently released novella, The Darcys of Derbyshire, I wrote about the courtship of Darcy’s parents, including this discussion of things one feels impelled to do:

“Lieutenant Darcy,” she said with amusement, “this is all very flattering, but did you not hear a word I said earlier? I am marrying another man.”

His charming smile brightened his face once again. “I heard you perfectly well. I simply did not accept it.”

“It is not up to you whether to accept it or not!” she snapped. If only he would stop pretending she had a choice in the matter. Did he suppose she liked the idea of being married off like some sort of chattel?

He halted and turned to look at her, laying his free hand on hers as it rested on his arm. “Lady Anne, I cannot and will not stop you from marrying him if that is what you truly desire, but I also must act on what I know in my heart to be right. I do not know how to explain it, but have you never experienced the sense that something must be done, regardless of what difficulties stand in your way?”

“My family would tell you I experience that far too often!”

“Then you know what I mean. I would be very curious, I must admit, as to what sort of thing you might have felt you had to do.”

Fortunately, I didn’t feel impelled to marry someone who was already betrothed. No, I just felt impelled to adopt a dying kitten.

It all started when my son’s beloved cat Fiji, his constant companion and his best friend, died unexpectedly in October. My son was devastated, so we needed the distraction of new kittens. I quickly found a pet rescue group, Passion 4 Paws, with four litters of kittens available for adoption.

Tipsy lap

My son and I looked at online pictures and descriptions of their kittens for hours. And hours. And hours. It was the only thing holding him together. My daughter from half-way across the country looked at them for hours too. And both of them picked out Snowdrop as the kitten they wanted. The only problem was she had a grade VI heart murmur – that’s a heart murmur you can feel just by touching the kitten’s side – suggesting congenital heart problems. She was due to have an echocardiogram to assess the damage, but I didn’t want to put the kids through loving and losing another cat so quickly, no matter how adorable Snowdrop looked. When I tried to steer them away from her, my son said, “I think maybe Snowdrop needs us,” which of course just about broke my heart. He has some issues about anyone with a poor prognosis and a touching faith in miracles, which you can read about here.

Satsuki and Beatrice

So I said no Snowdrop, and off we went to meet the other kittens. Stephanie was fostering 19 kittens at the time, mostly rescues from a cat hordeing situation. After a regretful glance at Snowdrop, Brian immediately zeroed in on Satsuki, an extremely tiny calico kitten, the runt of her litter. For me, the most important thing is to get a cat who is affectionate, so I went to the an empty corner of the room to see which kitten would come to me for attention. You guessed it. Snowdrop. Her heart murmur was obvious as soon as I picked her up. Her entire side shuddered with it. But Snowdrop started to purr, with a purr even louder than the murmur. I petted her and regretfully put her down so I could look at the other kittens, but she followed me everywhere .

In the meantime, Brian picked out the two kittens he wanted, and my husband had fallen in love with a different one. In the interest of family peace, we agreed to take all three, which was pretty crazy to start out with. We took the 3 kittens downstairs and put them in a carrier. Snowdrop followed me, and then kept pawing at the carrier trying to get into it. Yes, a cat trying to get into a carrier! Rather desperately, in fact. She might as well have held up a sign begging us to take her. Did I mention that Snowdrop is also completely adorable? She’s the sweetest kitten imaginable. If you looked up ‘cute kitten’ in the dictionary, there would be a picture of Snowdrop next to it. Anyway, even I could read the signs, so finally I told the Stephanie to call me when they knew the echocardiogram results, and we’d think about whether we could take her as well. It was heartbreaking leaving her behind, even though taking on 4 kittens would be totally nuts.

The spot on Snowdrop's back is shaped like a heart

The echocardiogram results were very bad. A miracle she had been born alive, another miracle she had survived to 10 weeks. Multiple heart defects and already moderate to severe heart failure; nothing could be done. Prognosis: grim, most likely death within 2-3 weeks, certainly by Thanksgiving. The fact she was alive at all was a testament to her incredible will to live.

Beatrice and Satsuki

Now, with all the problems in the world, it was probably silly for me to get so worked up about whether to give a home to a dying kitten, but like Lieutenant James Darcy, I couldn’t let go of it. Finally I decided if we took her, it would hurt when she died, but if we didn’t take her, I’d feel bad forever for leaving this affectionate kitten in a shelter for her last weeks of life. My idea was we’d just let her play with the others and try not to get too attached to her.

She developed severe diarrhea on the way to our house. We thought it might be stress, but within a couple of days, she was close to dying from dehydration. I couldn’t let this poor kitten who had survived massive heart defects die from diarrhea, even if she only had a couple of weeks to live. I made her special food several times a day, sat with her while she ate, gave her meds and supplements, and monitored her closely. She was with me pretty much every minute – so much for not getting attached. Then our two old cats fell ill after eating contaminated cat food. Both almost died, and it was touch and go for a few weeks. By the time they finally stabilized, it was almost Thanksgiving, the deadline we’d been given on how long Snowdrop could possibly survive – and Snowdrop was doing fine, apart from her recurrent diarrhea. At one of those 3 AM moments when I was hand-feeding the cats, it occurred to me that people in heart failure are given diuretics to cause mild dehydration and take the stress off their hearts. Here I had Snowdrop who was in heart failure and dehydrated by diarrhea – and living beyond the expected lifespan. I decided to take her to a veterinary cardiologist and see if diuretics might give her a little more time.

Kittens on Christmas Day

The cardiologist did a very thorough echocardiogram. For those with some medical knowledge, she found a large ventral septic defect, mitral stenosis, tricuspid valve failure, severe dilation of everything except the right atrium, weakness in the wall of the left atrium, pulmonary artery stenosis, and severe pulmonary hypertension. 5 different substantial defects. Translation: very, very, very bad. The good news was that for unknown reasons, cats with severe congenital heart defects who survive the first couple of months often live for a year or two. That may not sound like much, but when I was waking up every morning wondering if she was still alive, a year or two sounded really good!

So what does this have to do with Christmas? When we expected Snowdrop to live for 2 weeks, my son became fixated on the idea that we should somehow keep her alive long enough to celebrate one Christmas. I thought he was setting himself up to fail, and kept telling him she wasn’t going to make it that long and that love wouldn’t be enough to cure her heart. He refused to listen. Turns out he was right about how long she could live, as evidenced by this picture of all four kittens on Christmas morning. I was wrong on another front as well. The cardiologist said one thing working in Snowdrop’s favor is that she purrs whenever we pay attention to her. The vibration from cats’ purrs, it seems, helps heart muscle grow stronger and heal. So it turns out that even if love and attention can’t cure her heart, it’s been enough to give her some happy months and us some special memories of our little white Christmas miracle.

snowdrop cutest

44 comments on “Writing, kittens, and other miracles by Abigail Reynolds”

    1. Sophia Rose
      I’m glad you guys took Snowdrop home even knowing what further tugs on your heart she would bring later. I’ve lost several animals over the years and each loss hurt. Two were terminally ill and giving them a loving home did both us and those animals good. Thanks for sharing!They all look so cute.

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          I’m definitely learning a lot from Snowdrop.

    1. Wendy Roberts
      Thank you so much for sharing this story. No matter how long Snowdrop has with you, her time will be happy.

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          It’s a good reminder of what a gift life is.

    1. Susan Mason-Milks
      Thank you for writing about Snowdrop. Brought tears to my eyes. Clearly, she knew you were the right family to go home with! Smart girl!

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          Clearly I was the last to know which family she should go to! My kids have been quite happy to point this out. ;)

    1. Beatrice
      You never know what will happen. My sister had a cat with a severe heart problem that kept him from growing to full size, but no cat could have had a bigger heart as far as spunk, determination and love were concerned, regardless of what was going on anatomically. You’d see what appeared to be a tiny kitten scrambling upstairs, although each step was twice his height. To my amazement, he lived a long life. Whatever happens with Snowdrop, every day is a precious miracle for you and for her, each moment creates a treasured memory.Jane Austen might well have been thinking of playful kittens when she wrote, “For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?”

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          I’ve been hearing lots of stories about cats who have beaten the odds, and I hope she proves to be one of them. As to making sport for our neighbors, you may well be right! Watching the kittens playing is one of my favorite forms of entertainment.

    1. Erika Messer
      This story made me cry but in a good way because I could clearly see your love of animals :) It got to me a lot because I used to breed Yorkshire Terriers and we had a few that were considered the “runts” of the litters and they were teeny tiny so we kept them to raise, but unfortunately both of them had serious health problems, one had cardiac and the other went lame at only about 4 weeks old :( I became extremely attached to them so I know how you feel, I loved my male and female Yorkies but those little ones just stole my heart completely. There will always be that special place for them :) Maddy and Emmy were the names we gave them. Wonderful story, and I love your pictures.

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          I’m so glad Maddy and Emmy had you!

    1. Meredith (Austenesque Reviews)
      What a sweet story! Sounds like Snowdrop new exactly what family was right for her! She looks so cute! Hope she continues to defy the predictions and estimations!

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          Thanks, Meredith! I hope so too.

    1. Christa
      You have touched my heart. This is an example of a Christmas miracle. A miracle that occurs as a result of ones Love and Faith. Thank you for sharing this personal story with all of us. It is obvious where your inspiration for your emotionally filled stories come. You are an amazing person! Thank you!Happy New Year!

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          Thank you! Inspiration comes in odd places. One of the main characters in the new book I’m writing is a veterinarian, just because I’ve been spending so much time with them lately that I know a fair amount about how they work!

    1. Sonia
      So ADORABLE!!!!GO SNOWDROP GO!!!!!

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          Thanks for the cheerleading!

    1. Carol Settlage
      Snowdrop is indeed the cutest little kitten ever! As a cat lover, your feelings for your kitties are totally understood, and appreciated! Your story made me sad but happy that you have made such a caring environment for your kitties! I will read your writings in a new way from now on! I love all the pictures of the kitties as well as the beautiful cover for your new novella! The Jane Austen’s Dog joke was very clever and brought a chuckle too. Thanks for sharing!

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          Thanks, Carol. Glad you enjoyed all the pictures! It’s embarrassing how many I’ve taken ;)

    1. schilds
      Beautiful story. I am so happy she has a good family to show her the love she deserves. In return you have her love.

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          Thank you. I think I came out ahead in the bargain.

    1. Jo’s Daughter
      What a beautiful thing that Snowdrop entered your lives!! It seems that this was meant to be all along :)Before my sister got her current cat she wanted another kitten, which sadly did not make it. Though we don’t always understand it there is often a plan. My sister and her cute cat are now really happy together & a perfect match. This little white cat liked her a lot when they met!! Positively smiled & purred pick me, pick me. Sometimes cats decide who their owners will become and maybe that’s how it should be more often.

    1. Abigail Reynolds
      Snowdrop certainly picked us! She’s wiser than I am, I guess.

    1. Carmelita De Jesus
      Thank you for sharing your story – you and and your family are truly special! My best wishes to sweet Snowdrop – please keep us updated on her progress.We have 4 kitties at home too- all rescues. We originally had 3 , then my daughter came home from college one day last year with another one: it was an orange short haired domestic about 6 months old that had a skin issue causing an unsightly bald spot on its tail. My daughter was a volunteer at the local humane shelter near her college , and Cougar (as it was called) latched on to her . It broke my daughter’s heart when week after week, Cougar would end up unadopted due to the “icky spot” on its tail. Needless to say, we couldnt refuse Cougar- who ended up being name Ajax (Jax nowadays) . He’s a happy, curious , loyal one- follows you around the house with an inquiring look in his eyes! We tell our daughter that she “saved” Ajax!

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          Isn’t it amazing how kitties keep happening to us? Usually we don’t end up going out to adopt cats, since one needing a home tends to turn up on our doorstep sooner or later

    1. Carole in Canada
      It’s amazing how animals know who they have to convince to give them a home…Snowdrop knew it was you! Wishing Snowdrop lots of love and lots of purrrs to strengthen her!

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          Thanks, Carole. I’ve definitely never felt as chosen by an animal before!

    1. Kara Louise
      I wondered how Snowdrop was doing! I’m such a sucker for sweet cats and cat stories. Snowdrop is fortunate to have your family love her as you do (and making her purr!). She’s already defied the odds against her, here is hoping she’ll continue to do so!

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          I hope so too, Kara. Snowdrop is very good at winning hearts, even though her own has a lot of problems!

    1. Regina Jeffers
      I love cats, but my allergies have other ideas. Thanks for sharing Snowdrop’s story.

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          One of my fears when I had children was that one of them would prove to be allergic to cats. Fortunately for me, they only seem allergic to being separated from their cats. Sorry you can’t have one!

    1. Lúthien84
      What a touching story, Abigail. I hope Snowdrop to live longer than 1-2 years and continue to bring much joy and cheers to your family.

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          Thanks! I hope so too.

    1. Sally Smith O’Rourke
      Take heart, true miracles can and do happen. Mike and I rescued a very tiny orange and white kitten many years ago. She fell ill a couple weeks after we took her home. The vet told us that she had severe neurological damage (brain apparently), she would never be able to walk properly, never jump up or down, she was already blind and most likely would be deaf. As we watched the fluffy little thing stumble around, running in to things, we were torn; the vet said we should put her down. As she snuggled her tiny head into my neck I simply couldn’t let her go. Like Snowdrop she had severe diarrhea and wouldn’t eat. Mike and I force fed her (with a syringe) water and nutrition and gave her warm baths to keep her clean. She cried incessantly and it twisted my heart to hear her. But after about a week the diarrhea stopped and I was afraid it meant she was dying, but she ate and drank water. As a test to see how bad her handicaps were I clapped my hands and she jumped, so we turned off the lights in the room and she went directly to the door where some light was showing under the door which meant she could see light, so she wasn’t blind, right?. To make this already long story shorter, Squeaky (she never was able to meow) lived to be 22 years old. She was an in-door, out-door cat, climbed the wood siding on the house and could catch hummingbirds. She had no handicaps and she was the most loveable of all our cats (gave me kitty kisses). Miracles do happen, the angels were definitely looking after Squeaky.

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          So glad to hear about the miracle of Squeaky! Good for you for following your instincts and giving her a chance to have a long, happy life.

    1. TLeighF
      Snowdrop is so lucky to have such a lucky family to love her! Thank you for sharing that touching story. I am cat person and the proud mother of a rescue cat who has brought such love to my life (I would have more, but my husband has drawn the line at one). I hope the love your family shares with Snowdrop helps her grow strong and that she continues to beat the odds. Happy New Year!

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          Isn’t it amazing how much love those kitties give us?

    1. Diana Birchall
      Just read the Snowdrop Saga and it made me cry! Love you for loving Snowdrop.

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          You would fall in love with Snowdrop if you met her, Diana. Not to mention trying to steal our Bengal kitten!

    1. Cassandra
      What a beautiful, heart warming and touching story, Abigail. Bless you for giving Snowdrop so much love and care and for prolonging her life, and bless your son for his unwavering faith. I have enjoyed the pictures and loved the story and despite the tears in my eyes I feel so happy to know that Snowdrop has had such a wonderful family to care for her over these last few months.

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          Thank you. I know your cats have played an important role in your life as well. I still think of Lucky often!

    1. Trish Finnegan
      Love the cartoon at the top!

        1. Abigail Reynolds
          I couldn’t resist it, even if it had nothing to do with Snowdrop!

    1. Boston Sheryl
      Thank you so much, Abigail, for sharing this heart-warming Christmas story. I loved the pictures of all the kittens, but Snowdrop stole my heart. Your son must be a special young man to have such a tender and caring heart. Yours is an especially touching story because my family and I have adopted homeless kittens, who have brought us much joy. May God bless you and your family, and we offer a special Christmas prayer of healing for Snowdrop.

    1. C. Allyn Pierson
      I have known a number of people who lost beloved pets who have said, “No we are not going to get another- it is too painful when they die.” I have never understood this thinking…yes it is very painful when anyone you love dies, but does that mean that you should never love? Armoring your heart against potential loss leaves you alone and isolated with no reason for existence. Loss is an integral part of the human condition and trying to avoid it is not possible…unless you become a hermit. I’m glad Snowdrop is doing so well Abigail and, no matter how long she lives, you can know that you gave her the best possible life, and the knowledge that after she is gone she will be remembered…the only immortality available on Earth.

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    • Deborah on February 4, 2014 at 7:22 pm
    • Reply

    As for Snowdrop….I hope she has a long life. Amazing things can happen. My son has canaries and finches. His female, in October was diagnosed with stomach tumors and he wad told she (Jewels) would die sooner rather than later. Her mate, Veridian, died a month ago. She is still with us and going strong. When we spoke to the vet she was pleasantly surprised.

    1. That’s reassuring to hear, Deborah, and I’m glad Jewels is still going strong. I’ve seen Snowdrop turn blue if she tries to run around too much – you wouldn’t think you could see a cat turn blue, but at least with a white cat, it’s pretty obvious – you’d be surprised how obvious it is when the pink nose, ears, and eye rims are all the wrong color, and blue is definitely the wrong color. But I’m hoping her will to survive will keep her going for a while.

    • Carol hoyt on February 4, 2014 at 9:17 pm
    • Reply

    Ya’ll are just very good people! Blessings to you and your family! And the kittens!
    Hang in there snowdrop!!!

    1. She’s hanging in there – or hanging on there, as the case may be. She’s currently indulging in her favorite habit of attacking my feet. 🙂

    • Chanpreet on February 4, 2014 at 11:26 pm
    • Reply

    Snowball knew you would give her the love she needed and I’m glad everything worked out alright so far. She’s a beautiful kitten. It’s funny, we try so hard not to love but somehow end up falling anyways. 🙂

    1. Yes, I don’t know who I thought I was fooling when I said I wouldn’t get too attached!

    • Sheila L. M. on February 7, 2014 at 1:56 pm
    • Reply

    Although I can’t have cats or dogs in our house due to my husband’s allergies, I do have grand kitties and a grand dog! And I grew up with both. And parakeets are now my pets. Your story brought tears to my eyes. Many in our family do have animals and I hear sad and happy stories off and on. But animals can be, as I said previously, so therapeutic, to all. Thank God for good people like I read of above. Hopefully, Snowball will surprise us all. Your son sounds like an amazing caring individual. I am glad you have other cats upon whom he and your family can dote. I also hear of high vet bills, which is scary so it just shows how much you are committed to caring for this and the other cats.

    1. The vet bills can be scary. But Snowdrop is giving us more than we’re giving her, I think.

    • Deborah on February 8, 2014 at 2:07 pm
    • Reply

    I hope her will to survive keeps her going strong too.Snowdrop’s will to survive must be strong indeed. She’s definitely a special cat & you will be blessed in many ways for allowing her to be a part of your family.

    1. Snowdrop has been a blessing to us as well. It’s good to be reminded of the power of life and love.

    • Sheila L M on December 14, 2015 at 10:17 am
    • Reply

    I just read this for the first time &, of course, cried. I have lost many pets growing up & now can’t have any as, jmy husband is allergic to cats & dogs. I do have birds but NOT the same! They don’t show affection. Good luck with all those pets. Angels among us caring for the “hopeless”!

  1. […] on: excerpts from my work in progress, group writing projects like The Darcy Brothers, and the post about my amazing kitten Snowdrop. Well, we all know about the internet and cats, but the excerpts and group writing projects were […]

  2. […] life kitten, Snowdrop, who has become somewhat of an internet celebrity. You can read more about it here (warning, keep your tissues at hand!) This is a great example of how Reynolds is able to create a […]

  3. […] Christmas miracle kitten, Snowdrop. You can read the story of Snowdrop’s miraculous Christmas here (caution: tearjerker, contains cute kitten pictures). She is now about to spend her third […]

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