So Close, Yet So Far

Poli and Esca are sisters, presumably born in the house and thrown out as soon as they were weaned. The sequence of events which followed remains unknown, but by the time they were picked up, Poli had already been hit by a car on a busy street and left unable to

walk or stand on her own. Esca had probably seen what happened and was desperately trying to protect her sister, using her own body as a shield. Confused and terribly scared, they were brought to my shelter, and that’s how our paths crossed…

Poli was just lying still in the beginning, although she was able to hold onto her hind legs a little bit. She was obviously in pain every time she tried to get up and a visit to the vet revealed that her hip was broken. Instead of surgical repair, it was allowed

to heal spontaneously on its own, and she recovered literally completely. She now walks with a slight swing to her hips, but runs and jumps like any other cat. She is definitely one of the troublemakers, as she has always been adventurous and fearless, despite her

temporary handicap.

Esca is totally different, kind of shy and withdrawn, although she did display astonishing bravery when she had to and when it really mattered. She arrived at the shelter apparently uninjured, but just a few weeks

later an old wound with a surrounding area of necrotic tissue was discovered just behind her right shoulder blade. Everything that had to be surgically removed was removed and after that, nearly half of her fragile little body was bandaged up for days. She

managed to recover and now the only reminder of her suffering is a small scar, that's almost unnoticeable.

About six months later the spring came and both Poli and Esca reached the right age to be spayed. They both looked healthy

and no one could have imagined what their spay surgery would reveal. I still recall that fateful day I took them to the vet’s; out of five kitties scheduled to be spayed, all of them young and apparently healthy, none of them had a normal surgery! Trcika didn’t survive

sedation given before the general anesthesia, Poli had a huge tumor and almost bled to death, both Esca and Nasha were found to have large ovarian cysts and Farrah had a severe pyometra. After the initial shock, I didn’t even have time to grieve over

Trcika’s death because Poli’s life was hanging by a thread and then, once again, her sister stepped up for her.

Although they were not too close while they were healthy, Poli’s misfortune brought them together again. Esca didn’t want to leave

her side at all, she was warming her up, licking and cleaning her, encouraging her to fight and survive. And Poli did, with such tremendous support and love.

Taking a look back at the past year and a half, I must conclude that Esca and Poli

have stoically and valiantly endured life’s hardships, always having each other’s backs when it mattered most. Their devoted, beautiful relationship in times of trouble can't even be explained by family ties; however distant they may be at any given moment, I think

each of them knows that if anything happens, the other one will be right there. It’s not just sisterly love, but also an incredible, deep, loving friendship.

Poli and Esca are now walking their separate paths and living their separate lives, but

neither one of them will ever have to face any crises alone. They certainly don’t fear the future and challenges to come - if and when the need arises, both of them can be sure they will get together again.