RIP Pumpkin

Pumpkin found her way into our lives here at #2 Lenin Square back in the summer. She was almost bald on her head and neck and was full of dry scaly patches of skin. I noticed her sitting in the middle of the yard and approached her. Everyone avoided her like she had an infectious disease and I felt so bad for her that I decided to befriend her. My good friend and neighbor Natasha brought her to the vet and got her checked out. The diagnosis was simple: she was starving to death. Natasha and I started to feed her and before long she started to grow her long beautiful fur back. Her eyes cleared up and she had more energy and was like a whole new cat!  It had started to get cold here and we were worried she wouldn't have a place to live for the winter so I started to look for a home for her. She wanted to live with me but Miss Mouse wouldn't permit it. Pumpkin wasn't concerned about her though...every time I opened my door she tried to sneak into the apartment!

During the summer I found out Natasha was using her own money to sterilize stray cats. I thought this was such a great thing that I decided to help her. Every week I pass around a jar at the library during our English activities and so far people have been giving about 60 G's a week. One of the students that attends the club found a volunteer organization that shelters, feeds, gives medical care and sterilized stray animals here and in Dnipropetrovsk. I found out they could find a home for Pumpkin and I was supposed to speak with them this week about it but things were cancelled because the woman who runs it was sick. I figured I had a little bit of time yet....

Thursday at 3pm Pumpkin came to my door but I didn't feed her because I usually do so later in the day. That was the last time I saw her. I spent the next 40 hours looking for her and worrying something bad happened. This morning I went downstairs with her breakfast and found her in front of my building in the grass. She was gone. I wrapped her up and put her in the backyard dumpster because I didn't want to see the crows get at her. (I would have been able to see her from my balcony)
I am so very sad...she was like my own.

I'm sorry Pumpkin. I did everything I could...I just thought we had a little more time.