Friday, October 24, 2014

Helped by God with concern

Pam Padgett - teacher

Recently the cat of my elderly neighbor, Jim, became ill for no apparent reason.  He asked me to take the cat to a pet emergency clinic where tests were run and the symptoms were treated.  The cat was sent home a couple days later, but the cause of the problem was not known.  Jim was very worried and made an appointment to take the cat to the regular vet hoping they might find the cause of the problem. 

But a few days before the appointment the cat was no longer sick.  It was eating, drinking water, and even grooming itself.   I was concerned that the cat, as well as Jim and even me, would be put through much more than necessary by taking it to the vet when it was no longer sick.  This cat gets extremely scared, and vicious when scared.  Just taking the cat to the vet is traumatic for everyone involved.  And then the cat would probably be given more tests or procedures even though it was no longer sick. 

I prayed about my concern. 

Later, while talking with Jim, I told him that something very minor could have caused the type of problem his cat experienced.  Cats can be very sensitive.

Then I was reminded by the Holy Spirit of something that happened to me many years ago and I told him about this.  At the time I had a cat that became sick and the vet couldn't find the problem.  But God showed me the problem was something I had fed the cat.  I told Jim I wasn't saying that his cat got sick from something it had eaten, but that it could be something very minor like this that a vet couldn't find. 

Jim paused, then told me that he keeps thinking about something.  A cleaning woman comes to clean his house periodically, and the last time she was there she had decided to wash the cat's bowl (she usually doesn't do this).  He wondered if maybe a little of the cleaning chemicals had been left in the bowl.  That could easily have started the problem!

He said no more about needing to find the cause of the problem. And as the cat continued to do well, he cancelled the vet appointment.