Buckley’s Story, Ingrid King – Author Guest Post

“Buckley’s Story” is the story of how one small cat changed the author’s life in ways she never could have imagined.  In this warm-hearted memoir, Ingrid King shares the story of Buckley, a joyful, enthusiastic and affectionate tortoiseshell cat she meets while managing a veterinary hospital.   Buckley challenges Ingrid to overcome long-held emotional patterns and teaches both the author and the reader universal lessons about opening the heart, following intuition, and living a life filled with joy.  When Ingrid leaves her job at the veterinary hospital to start her own business, Buckley comes home to live with her and Amber, another tortoiseshell cat who had adopted the author several years earlier.

Buckley is diagnosed with heart disease after only two years of living with Ingrid, and caring for Buckley through her illness only deepens the bond between cat and human.  Interspersed with well-researched information about cat health in general, and heart disease in particular, the author describes the challenges and rewards of managing illness in a feline companion, and ultimately helping her through the final transition.  Ingrid shares both the day-to-day joys of living with a special cat as well as the profound grief that comes with losing a beloved animal companion.

“Buckley’s Story” is a celebration of the soul connection between animals and humans, a connection that is eternal and transcends the physical dimension. – FROM THE AUTHOR SITE

AUTHOR GUEST POST…Animals as Teachers

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 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 these words.

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.

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.  She is also the inspiration behind my blog The Conscious Cat (www.consciouscat.net.

Virginia passed away two years after Feebee, and my office felt empty. For the next three years, I did not have an office cat.  And then, in the spring of 2005, Buckley entered my life. She changed my life in ways I never could have imagined, and as I looked back over her life, I found that her lessons were universal lessons about opening the heart and living a joyful life, and I decided to share her story with the world in Buckley’s Story – Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Ingrid King is the author of Buckley’s Story – Lessons from a Feline Master Teacher.  A former veterinary hospital manager turned writer, Ingrid publishes the online magazine 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.  For more information, please visit Ingrid’s website at www.ingridking.com.  You can also find Ingrid on Facebook (www.facebook.com/ingrid.king) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/consciouscats).