Thread by @VABVOX

So It's #Caturday 🐱 & I have a story. 📌
As many of you know, I ran a small no-kill cat shelter for about 20yrs. It was just me, The Wife, two close friends & a bunch of volunteers. This was parallel to all of us having full-time employment, so it was always a labor of love.
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We rescued, rehabbed, spayed/neutered & placed well over 1k cats/kittens over that time. It was a mitzvah for the cats & the community in North Philly where we live. There were many stories over the years. It was great work we did. We closed after I was paralyzed 3yrs ago.
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So one thing we did was place cats with older and/or #disabled people who needed pets. One person we placed cats with was M, a woman on the #autism spectrum who is also hard of hearing. She came to us through our vet. M needed a service cat to help her navigate her anxiety.
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We brought her to the shelter and she chose a cat. They were together for about 8yrs in the little SRO place for #disabled folks where M lives. We continued to provide vet support for M over that time because she needed that cat for her mental and emotional well-being.
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When the first cat died, M was in mourning. But we knew she needed another cat. So we brought her back to the shelter to choose one and found another love match for her. All has been well over the past few years with the new cat. They were very happy together.
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Last Saturday I got a call from M's sister who lives in another state. The two are not close. The sister, J, said M was in ICU. Could we take care of the cat? Now our vet is in town a block from M's little one-room place, so the sister could have just boarded her. But no.
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So I had her take the cat there to board whilst I looked for a temporary foster situation while M recovered. I spoke with J midweek. M was still intubated and in ICU.
I called this morning to check on her. M is markedly better. Extubated and out of ICU, but still quite ill.
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The sister said recovery will be slow and M will have to go to rehab. M had been asking after and worried about her cat friend. The sister wanted to know if I had found a new home for the cat. I said of course not, she is M's cat.
And this is where the story takes a turn.
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J, the sister, does not approve of M's living arrangements. Well, M is on #disability and so of very limited means. She has a part time job, but isn't able to work more, both because of her disability and because of Medicaid restrictions on income. And her little SRO is sweet.
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M has made it as nice as possible with a quilt on her single bed that doubles as a sofa & has a couple plants in the window. It's spare, but not monastic. It's got an air of coziness. And it is what M can handle. The place where she lives is specifically for disabled people.
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The sister has determined that M can't go back there, where she has friends and her cat and her own life, living independently with her disabilities in her own community. I am livid. I said I hoped she would wait to discuss this with M, who keeps asking about her cat.
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I said this was M's world and her relationship and while I stopped short of saying "And it's just as valid as YOUR life," probably my tone had changed enough to get that across. I mean honestly, it's M's life, not J's. And she needs and deserves her cat AND her autonomy.
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At no point did J offer to contribute to the cat's care, or pay for the initial $170 in boarding fees from the vet. Nor did she even say thank you. I was so non-plussed toward the end of the conversation that I blurted out that we had paid for all M's vet bills for 15yrs.
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I guess I was surprised---no, shocked--that all this time M had a well-off sister married to a doctor living in one of the wealthiest states in the country. And she left her sister to manage on $700 a month #disability and the kindness of strangers. Yet now is taking over.
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So I guess this is a story about what happens to people society decides are marginal, like an older single woman on the #autism spectrum who is hard of hearing.
I called the sister back--she didn't pick up. I left a message about how the cat was a service cat.
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I explained that M's doctor had prescribed a cat for her. I suggested she get M a stuffed cat for now, to aid in her recovery. I asked if we could come visit. (I can't but The Wife could.) I doubt I'll hear from her. And because M doesn't have access to TTY, I can't call her.
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I just had to talk about this. It's a cautionary tale. All over America #disabled people like M are living independently in the community & we should do everything possible to maintain the means for them to do so and respect their autonomy. We should want this for everyone.

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The good news is M is recovering. The cat is ok but misses M. She's boarding in a nice guest room & if we have to take her back, we will. But it is my hope that she will be reunited with M. And I will do what I can to make that happen.
Thanks for listening to this story. 🌿
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