Daisy and Poppy and Gloria Ferrante: Furry Friends Fur-Ever

“I felt lost after saying goodbye to my cat,” Gloria says. “I had her for 20 years, and she was my best friend.  

“I donated most of her belongings to Furry Friends and when I dropped them off at the shelter, I noticed a little white cat watching me from the living room and a little orange cat watching me from one of the catios. Something about that place touched me deeply.

“In May, I began volunteering at the shelter on the evening shift. Furry Friends gave me a safe place to land and grieve. Living close to the shelter allowed me to stop in and socialize with the cats nearly every evening before my shift started: I called them ‘dinner dates.’ Buffy and Sookie (now Daisy and Poppy) were on my list for dinner dates.

“Despite being 1 ½ years old, they were tiny, had come from a hoarding situation and, even worse, were sick with Calicivirus, a highly contagious, sometimes deadly virus. I offered to foster them until they recovered, taking them back and forth to the shelter to get fluids. Luckily, after a few weeks, they started eating normally again and were on their way back to being healthy.

“They’re bonded sisters with very different personalities, and yet they were both silly and did everything together. Buffy/Daisy was a little shier and didn’t like being picked up or carried while Sookie/Poppy was more outgoing and didn’t mind being picked up. But they both loved – and still love -- affection and pets. They also loved bird watching and would squeeze together side by side on a windowsill. Hiding in shower curtains, exploring everywhere, chasing teaser wands and lasers and playing fetch with little toy mice were, and continue to be, their favorite pastimes.

“One Saturday morning, my bedroom smoke detector randomly went off, and both cats immediately came running to me, meowing, but staying right at my feet. I took it as a sign that they felt safe with me and decided I would keep them safe for the rest of their lives.

“The cat I lost had lung tumors, and I spent her final months describing a wildflower meadow to her. After she passed away, I juggled my free time between the shelter and a community garden plot, where I was growing wildflowers in her memory. I changed Buffy’s name to Daisy and Sookie’s to Poppy to honor her memory, and I continue to grow her meadow.

“Volunteering, fostering, adopting … there’s something incredibly cathartic about giving yourself to someone or something bigger than you. Daisy and Poppy remind me of my last cat in all the best ways. They make me laugh every day, and the way they look at me lets me know that I did the right thing. They’re helping heal parts of me I wasn’t sure would ever heal.”
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Furry Friends Fur-Ever Stories are compiled and written by Nomi Berger who is the bestselling author of seven novels, one work of non-fiction, two volumes of poetry, and hundreds of articles. She is a volunteer writer for Furry Friends in Vancouver, WA and also volunteers her writing skills to animal rescue groups in Canada and the USA.