TINKERBELLE REMEMBERS: Birthday

The Finding of a Therapy Cat: a series about Tinkerbelle, Registered Pet Partner Therapy Cat (retired) and our journey together.

By Mollie Hunt

Part 22: Birthday

Today is my birthday, and it reminds me Tinkerbelle’s birthday is coming up soon. For her 15^th birthday a few years past, we had a little party at the assisted facility we visited every week. No one can through a party like those folks!

I don’t know how they managed it, but they reserved the entire activities room. They must have spent hours decorating, and when we saw what they had done, both Tinkerbelle and I were amazed!

I’d put out the word it was Tink’s birthday, so I wasn’t surprised when a small group of her admirers in party hats met us at the front door. They were all happy and laughing, but all they would say was, “Come this way.”

We took the elevator up to the third floor and were guided to the activities room where more folks awaited the birthday girl. There were streamers and confetti, fresh flowers on the tables. The smiling crowd parted to reveal a cake in the shape of a cat, a black cat with honey-gold eyes. Across it’s flooffy fur in pink, it read “Happy Birthday, Tinkerbelle!”

That cake looked scrumptious, but what about Tink? Cats don’t eat cake.

“We haven’t forgotten,” said Mary, taking us to an alcove by a sunny window. There was a little fish cake, just for Tink. “I hope she likes Tuna. We got the recipe from our house vet, so it’s all good for her.”

Usually Tinkerbelle doesn’t eat on the job, one of the rules of the Pet Partners program, but we broke the rule, just that once. If they’d seen the way Tinkerbelle tucked into her cake, I knew they would understand.

About Tinkerbelle:
Tink served for four years as a registered Pet Partner Therapy Cat, visiting assisted living facilities and hospice patients. Tink is now retired and living the quiet life. Check out her Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/TinkerbelleTheTherapyCat/

About Mollie Hunt:
Mollie is the author of the Crazy Cat Lady cozy mystery series, featuring Lynley Cannon, a sixty-something cat shelter volunteer who finds more trouble than a cat in catnip. Mollie is a member of the Oregon Writers’ Colony, Sisters in Crime, Willamette Writers, the Cat Writers’ Association, and the Northwest Independent Writers Association. Two of her short cat stories have been published in anthologies, one of which, The Dream Spinner, won the prestigious CWA Muse Medallion this year.

Like Lynley, Mollie is a grateful shelter volunteer. She is a longtime volunteer for the Oregon Humane Society where she socializes sad, fearful, and behavior-challenged cats. She also fosters sick and elderly cats in her home. In 2014, she had the privilege to work with cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy on a particularly thought-provoking case.

You can find Mollie on her Website: http://www.lecatts.wordpress.com/, her Amazon Page: http://www.amazon.com/author/molliehunt, and her Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/MollieHuntCatWriter/.