When My Cat Died and Came Back to Life, I Did What Any Writer Would Do

Recently, Senator Tammy Duckworth mentioned her “Alive Day” anniversary on Twitter. She said, “Today is my Alive Day, the anniversary of the day I almost died but didn’t.” She went on to describe how 14 years earlier, an RPG hit the helicopter she was piloting in Iraq. She lost both of her legs. But instead of remembering the experience as a loss, she remembers it as a gain, that she survived. I guess this isn’t uncommon in the military and I thought it was a great perspective.

Well, I don’t have as intense of or important experience to tell but Duckworth reminded me that my cat Madeleine has an “Alive Day” too. A year ago on November 13th, Maddie, who was seriously ill with a stubborn urinary tract infection, had stopped eating and started throwing up, a lot. So, we took her to the animal hospital. The vet said the infection hadn’t improved from her antibiotics and she was severely dehydrated. She needed to be given fluids and tests overnight. My husband and I went home, worried but knowing the hospital was the safest place she could be.

An hour later, as we finally settled down to eat, we got a call. Maddie had gone into cardiac arrest and died. But the team had revived her. The doctor sounded upset, she wanted us to come in right away. She was unsure if Maddie would suffer another heart attack. I’ll never forget the feeling of driving recklessly through tears, trying to control my hands, as we raced back to the hospital. 

Needless to say, on the exam table Maddie looked skinny and wet and out of it. Her mane was matted and she had a bulky oxygen mask over her little mouth and nose. Her eyes did this weird dance where a circular line inside the green area expanded and pulsed, as she tried to make sense of the corporeal world.

That night, after I got my emotional wreck of a self together, I wondered whether Maddie had had one of those out-of-body experiences. The sensation of feeling yourself float up to the ceiling as you watch the doctors care for your body. And if a cat did have that experience, what would it think? It wouldn’t use language to describe what was happening, but then again people who have experienced this say there is no speaking, just a strange calm detachment.

The good news is Maddie didn’t suffer a second heart attack. And instead of ineffective medicine, she got the antibiotic she needed. The infection disappeared. She came home and ate eagerly and gained weight. Though she still suffers mild kidney disease and an old cat thyroid condition, she’s pretty much back to her chirpy, cheery self.

But I was changed. The suddenness and shock of it all left me processing for weeks. I couldn’t stop wondering if Maddie had visited an afterlife momentarily. If she had, what might have happened? Did she meet up with our dogs Arrow and Iris, who passed away several years ago? Did she meet up with my dad who died when I was five? Maybe not. Then again, maybe.

I started to imagine a story where a cat like this might encounter a ghost, a ghost who might need to send a message to the living. What if the cat came back with a message? How would she communicate that? And what if the message was the natural world was disturbed by the ghost’s death? Because maybe the death wasn’t as simple and innocent as everyone thought it had been.

All of those questions led to my novel, Song of the Tree Hollow.

Ultimately, Song of the Tree Hollow became a coming-of-age mystery about a young woman who discovers she has a magical touch with plants, and a dark family history. Her cat Sophie, who’s just had a heart attack, died, and been revived, keeps slipping out of the house and leading her to a nearby ravine. And not only into the ravine, but to one specific tree, a tree that’s hollow at its base. But why?

When Maddie went through all of this last year, I’d wished so intensely that she hadn’t. I wondered why she couldn’t be like our other cat, Aleksy, who’s chubby and yowls a lot and is healthy and happy at 19 years old. At a mere 12 years of age, Maddie had become so sick, she’d almost died. But like Tammy Duckworth, she survived. And like Tammy, she gave me a fresh appreciation for life’s beauty and its small meaningful moments. I mean, as I write this, Maddie is napping, curled up beside me in my chair, purring with the gift of being alive.

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Karen Hugg writes literary mysteries inspired by plants. Her stories are set in worlds where plants, real or imagined, affect people in strange new ways. Her aim is to entertain and inspire readers, to get them thinking while their hearts are pounding. She’s a certified ornamental horticulturalist and Master Pruner. She’s been published in various journals, anthologies, and websites. Her life is happily hectic but she’s lucky to have a patient husband and sweet children. Her pets aren’t bad either. To learn more, explore http://www.karenhugg.com.

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About Song of the Tree Hollow, available on Amazon for .99 cents:

Vero Leclaire has moved back home to care for her sick cat Sophie while her mom is in rehab. But after Sophie dies from a heart attack and is revived by a vet, she leads Vero to a tree hollow where a strange humming emanates.

Unsure whether the tree is haunted or she’s imagining things, Vero goes on a quest to solve the puzzle, finding an exotic fern, a Native medallion, and an old cassette tape, which together unravel the truth about her dark family history.

In the end, Vero must battle not only her penchant for living in the past but save her mom before she dies at the hands of a person who knows what’s buried beneath the tree.

 

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing