Precerpt from Raising God's Rainbow Makers: Puff, the Cat
When we were living in Pittsburgh, a little orange kitten showed up one day and quickly became pals with Shane, who named him Puff. He was an indoor–outdoor cat, always turning up for his meals and for petting, as if he knew he belonged. When we moved to Arlington, Virginia, we took Puff with us—how could we leave him behind? He adapted easily to the new neighborhood, a quiet area tucked away from traffic and noise. Good for kids. Good for a cat. For a while, everything felt right. Then, about a year later, Puff stopped wanting to go outside. He curled up in the corner of the study and slept—and slept—and slept. We worried. Was he sick? Had he eaten something bad? We took him to the vet on Monday morning, hoping for medicine or a change of food. The diagnosis was devastating: feline leukemia, likely contracted from other outdoor cats in Virginia. In Pittsburgh, our neighborhood had been so isolated that cats roamed freely and safely—something that’s rare now. But in Arlington, FL...