We Remember Amber
It’s never welcome news when a friend’s cat is ill, especially when the friend is a skilled caregiver providing all the requirements for a healthy life. Logic or intuition, or both, may warn you that only the most virulent diseases could get through the defenses your friend has provided her cat, and the outcome may not be good.
Yesterday our friend Ingrid King said goodbye to her precious Amber. Ingrid always described Amber as “a wise old soul in a feline body”, quiet, loving, gentle, purring constantly, providing comfort and support for her human mom though times of great change and other loss.
You could see Amber’s inner peace in any photo of her, always composed and calm. A tortoiseshell cat, Amber had the typically unique markings, and Ingrid found her name from the heart-shaped amber spot on the top of Amber’s head.
I’ve gotten to “know” Amber through reading her posts on Ingrid’s blog, The Conscious Cat, in Amber’s Mewsings, but I feel as if I just “met” Amber through reading Ingrid’s book, Buckley’s Story: Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher. I really appreciated getting to know the loving and free-spirited Buckley who inspired Ingrid to change her career and then to write the book, but always in the background was Amber, quietly providing support and love, never questioning, always devoted to Ingrid. I’ve known cats like her, and aside from all the other lessons in the book I came away loving Amber very much.
A chronic illness can prepare you for a loss, but an acute disease, especially with non-specific symptoms, can send you and your veterinarian scrambling for answers, and the loss can be a shock. After noticing some non-specific symptoms about ten days ago she began treating Amber for laryngitis and coaxing her to eat, but Amber ended up in feline intensive care and was diagnosed with a virulent calcivirus, complicated by an underlying heart condition.
Ingrid has also been a supportive mentor for me as I’ve learned social networking, blogging and using Facebook.
It’s hard to believe Amber gone so quickly, and Ingrid and her new kitten Allegra must be feeling very lost, so my household will send them love.
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I’m really glad we can all communicate this way as well, on our blogs and on Facebook, sharing a conversation in a way we never could in all our separated locations, even with people we don’t know. Losing an animal companion is one of those loneliest times in life, but here we can all combine our energy for you, Ingrid, and even in the middle of the night you konw we are thinking about you. I like hugs, but in their absence this is good.
Beautifully said, Bernadette. The good thing about this sad time is our sense of supportive community.
Sending much love to Ingrid and Allegra and Amber. We will miss you so much.
Thank you for this beautiful tribute to Amber, Bernadette, and thanks to all of you for your love and support. Even though, with the exception of Bernadette, I haven’t met any of you in person, I am deeply touched by this outpouring of comfort during this devastatingly difficult time. It means so much to know so many people care, and truly understand, what I’m going through.
You’re so right, Bernadette. I’m glad we all have each other, anyway. I believe it’s much easier to cope with death when we are surrounded by people who understand us, even from afar.
Laura, I felt as if I knew Amber from Igrid’s blog.
Tamar, I believe she was 12.
Daniela, this is one time social networking just doesn’t do it!
All, as we share the joys, so we share the grief of loss, even if we can’t be there.
Thank you for this lovely tribute, Bernadette. We will all miss Amber very much. I was so blessed to become friends with Ingrid via Internet, and now I feel the weight of not being able to ring her bell, bring flowers and give her a hug.
Bernadatte, that was a lovely post. I will reach out to Ingrid, thanks for letting us know. Do you know how old she was? Thank goodness Ingrid has Allegra in this time.
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A wonderful post, Bernadette. And a beautiful tribute to such a sweet cat, owned by such a kind-hearted person as Ingrid is.
It’s just hard to believe that she was well just a short while ago. I’ve lost cats to acute illnesses and I know how Ingrid must feel, aside from the sadness wondering what you might have missed. As I mentioned, I also just read her book, actually read it to my mother as she moved into skilled nursing, and the combination of Ingrid’s story and Amber’s gentle personality and sharing it with my mother is partly why I feel so close to Amber, and to Ingrid, and I really feel their loss.
What a wonderful tribute to a very much loved priceless soul of a cat, Bernadette. You’ve said it all & said it beautifully. I’m sure it’ll help as much as anything can right now.
That is such a wonderful post Bernadette. We are sending Ingrid and Allegra tons of love too. We know she is hurting to day and will hurt for a long time. It upset me so I can imagine how upset that poor Ingrid is at the moment.
Take care.