Yesterday we noticed that Grey had quite a severe limp and, in fact, by the end of the day wasn’t putting his right paw down at all. The animal clinic advised us to keep his movement limited and give it 48 hours.

This morning, I was delighted to see him emerge from the kitty carrier and walk, albeit gingerly, on all fours. What a relief! Relief that lasted until I returned from popping out to the garden. He was so startled that he tried to jump up onto the counter and fell. He nipped into the cat carrier and didn’t move. For hours.

Just to be safe, I took advantage of the opportunity, slipped the door shut and took Grey to the vet. When we arrived, I was delighted to see “our” vet was working today. My heart just softened, remembering how she’d been there with my cat Jinx so often and with Shannon’s cat too, right at the end. It felt right to share the beginning of this new journey with her.

So I told the story of the abandonment and rescue, of the limp and of the fall. We put Grey on the ground so the vet could observe his gait and… he quickly scampered under the chair with no limp at all! Not a hint.

Perhaps he’d dislocated something and managed to pop it back in with the fall.  Perhaps it was the adrenalin. Just to be sure, our vet examined him closely and carefully and though he squirmed, he settled.

Not only is Grey just fine but our vet seemed to believe that with his behaviour today we had every reason to be hopeful that he’ll soften up too.