It was the first time I have been asked to treat a cat.
Rocky was lame. X-rays had found a bony growth in the muscle of the thigh in his left hind leg. I was able to see the x-ray showing the strange bit of bony tissue floating in the muscle.
Animals don’t suffer from the need to be polite, so I knew Rocky would be very clear about whether he wanted a treatment.
He was curled up on a pile of clothes. I put a hand onto his leg and waited to see what he wanted. He seemed quite happy for me to be touching him like this, although he doesn’t usually welcome strangers who want to stroke him.
My focus was on his leg and what I knew of the injury, but Rocky had other ideas. He immediately turned over and presented me with his lumber spine. It did indeed feel in need of help and we worked together for some time, quite specifically on the lower lumber vertebrae, before he got up and jumped off the chest of drawers to walk around the room, returning to present his back for more treatment after each perambulation. His left leg was stiff and moved in a little circular motion away from his body with each step.
After the session, his owner returned to the report from the vet and read it out to me.
In addition to a detailed analysis of the thigh, there was mention almost in passing of ventral spondylosis deformans in L 5-7; (degeneration of the spine in his lower back). This was just the area that Rocky had told me he wanted to have treated.
I was surprised how delighted I was to have my perceptions confirmed by an X-ray.
In a way, it doesn’t make any difference. Rocky got the treatment he wanted, in fact he wouldn’t have put up with anything else. But for me, to have that confirmation does mean something, if only to prove that we are all creatures of our time and culture.
It is not easy, in a world that demands proof and measurement in all aspects of life, to be in a profession that depends at every moment on feel and intuition. It requires constant trust and courage to leap in the dark with each moment of each session, and allow the healing hour to unfold.
This story is not so much about treating a cat, joyful though it was to have the opportunity, but more a celebration of a moment of confirmation for me.
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