Animals as Teachers: A Guest Post by Ingrid King (& a Giveaway)

I have gotten to know Ingrid King through her blog and am honored to have her as a guest today. Anyone who has spent any time on her blog, The Conscious Cat, knows how much she loves and respects cats. She recently published her first book, Buckley's Story: Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher. Please welcome Ingrid to Musings of a Bookish Kitty!

---

Animals as Teachers From the Introduction to Buckley’s Story –
Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher

I have always believed that animals come into our lives to teach us. First and foremost, they teach us about unconditional love. But they also teach us to stretch and grow, to reach beyond our self-imposed limits, and to expand our consciousness. They take us to places we did not think were possible for us to go. I’ve been fortunate to have a number of these animals in my life.

I was not allowed to have pets as a child. The apartment building I grew up in would not permit them, but I would temporarily adopt cats for the duration of almost every family vacation. I grew up in Germany, and in those days, a typical vacation meant that you went to one place and stayed there for two or three weeks at a time. We stayed at small bed-and-breakfasts or rented a vacation condo, and somehow, at every place we stayed, we would either find a resident cat or two, or there would be a number of stray cats hanging around the property. The times I spent with these cats make up some of my happiest childhood memories.

I got my first cat when I was in my twenties. Feebee was a grey tabby cat who was born in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to a cat named Blue, who belonged to a childhood friend of my former husband. Walt and I were living in Germany at the time, but we would be moving back to the Washington, DC area shortly, so Walt’s friend saved one of the kittens in Blue’s litter for us. Meeting Feebee was love at first sight for me. We took him home as soon as we had moved into our new house in Northern Virginia, and for the next fifteen and a half years, Feebee was the love of my life. He saw me through my divorce as well as the death of my mother. He was my primary emotional support during those dark days. If it wasn’t for him, you might not be reading this book.

He was also instrumental in guiding me toward a new career. I was increasingly unhappy with my corporate job but had no clear sense of what I was meant to be doing with my life. Then Feebee took matters into his own paws, so to speak, and developed bladder stones. The time we then spent at veterinary hospitals for diagnosis, treatment, and surgery led me to change careers. I started volunteering and then working part time at veterinary hospitals, which eventually led to a full-time position managing an animal hospital—a position that came with an office cat with a very distinct personality. Virginia, a beautiful tortoiseshell cat, loved me fiercely, and made my dream of a fulfilling career complete. Whenever I had visualized my perfect job, that dream had always included a cat sleeping in a sunny spot on my desk. One of Virginia’s favorite sleeping places was the spot right next to my computer, in front of a sunny window.

Working at various animal hospitals led to many encounters with a large variety of special cats and dogs. The lessons learned from those encounters are enough to fill another book.

Several years later, Feebee lost his battle with lymphoma. Three months after he passed away, Amber came into my life. She was a stray who was brought to the animal hospital with her five kittens. She was emaciated and scrawny, but even then, her eventual beauty was evident. She is a dark tortoiseshell color, with an amber-colored, heart-shaped spot on top of her head, which became the reason for her name. Her kittens were adopted out to new homes in fairly rapid succession, but nobody was interested in the beautiful mommy cat. I did not think I was ready for another cat yet. The wound from Feebee’s passing was still very fresh and raw, but coming home to an empty house was becoming increasingly difficult, so I took Amber home, “just for the weekend.” She never returned to the animal hospital, and for the past nine years, her gentle, loving, wise presence, not to mention her almost constant purr, has been bringing love and affection into my life every day.

Virginia passed away two years after Feebee, and my office felt empty. For the next three years, I did not have an office cat, but there were always plenty of cats boarding at the animal hospital and these cats appreciated getting a break from being confined to a cage all day. I would bring a succession of favorites into my office with me whenever the opportunity presented itself. But it was not the same as having my own office cat.

And then, in the spring of 2005, Buckley entered my life. It seems hard to believe how much one small cat can change your life in just three short years. This is the story of Buckley and the lessons she taught me. Since the lessons are universal, I hope that you, dear reader, will find some of them useful for your own journey. If nothing else, I hope you enjoy the story of Buckley, a very special little cat.

* * *
Ingrid King is a former veterinary hospital manager turned writer. She publishes the E-zine News for You and Your Pet, covering topics ranging from conscious living to holistic and alternative health. She shares her experiences with consciously creating a joyful, happy and healthy life for pets and people on her popular blog, The Conscious Cat. Ingrid lives in Northern Virginia with her tortoiseshell cat Amber. Visit www.ingridking.com.

---

The author has kindly offered a copy of her book, Buckley's Story, to one lucky reader in the U.S.A. If you would like a chance to win a copy please let me know by leaving a comment. Be sure and include your e-mail address. The winner will be selected at random and notified by e-mail. The deadline to enter the giveaway is October 30th at 11:59 p.m. PDT.

Thank you to all who commented and entered the giveaway! The winner was selected using random.org. The winner is

Diane of Bibliophile by the Sea!

Congratulations, Diane!

**GIVEAWAY CLOSED**