I love my cat, Truffie. She’s part of the joy in my life. Every day, she brings a smile to my face and makes me laugh. She loves me unconditionally, even when I’m not wearing lipstick or my hair is a mess. She loves me when I’m grumpy or had a bad day. She even loves me when I accidentally step on her tail.
This spring, Truffie stopped eating. She lost weight. She’d been to the vet twice. My credit card vet charges were up to $600. The vet scratched his head. “All the lab tests and x-rays are normal. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. Maybe we could−”
“No,” I said. “I can’t spend any more money. Not if we don’t even know what’s wrong or how to fix it.”
She had already been sick for five days. If something didn’t change soon, Truffie would die. I took her home. She still wouldn’t eat. She had a fever. None of her medications had helped so far.
I wondered. Does God care if Truffie is sick? Sure, we know He cares about our health and our finances and foreign affairs and the troops fighting in far-away places. But does God really care if my cat is sick? Will He have time to hear my prayers, considering His busy schedule of healing folks and finding work for the unemployed, and protecting our loved ones and trying to make our politicians get along? You see, I’ve prayed about all those things for a while now, but Truffie’s fever? Does He really care? Do I dare pray and expect God to heal her?
I asked my pastor, “Do you think God answers prayer when our animals are sick? Would it help of I prayed for Truffie?” He said that on a certain day, people bring their animals to the Catholic church to be blessed, but he couldn’t think of a verse that specifically says God heals cats.
I tried to find a verse in the Bible that would suggest that God cared about the animals and would answer our prayers when they’re sick. Matthew reminds us… 'Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?… Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. (Matthew 10:20 NIV)' Sparrows. Cats. Not quite the same, but if He loves birds, maybe He loves cats, too.
We’re all familiar with God’s blessings and promises. We know God gives us everything we need. Our home. Our loved ones. A job...–well, most of us have a job, or we had one, before they downsized the company and now some of us have unemployment. But, not many of us are going hungry or sleeping in the streets, so even in our adversity, God supplies our needs. But, that didn’t answer my question. Could I really ask Him to heal my cat?
I moved on, reading more about prayer and faith. 'Ask and it will be given to you. (Matthew 7:7 NIV)'.
Really? Was that the key? And faith the size of the mustard seed could even move mountains? 'For truly I say to you. If you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move and nothing will be impossible. (Matthew 17:20 NIV)' That sounded promising.
And lastly… 'How much more will the Father in Heaven give good gifts to those (his children) who ask Him. (Matthew 7:11 NIV)' Now, we were getting somewhere. It was a matter of prayer with faith, not the specifics of what we pray for.
What did I have to lose? So I prayed for Truffie. “Lord, you know how much I love her. You know how much joy she brings me and you know how it would grieve me to lose her. I’m calling on Your promise, 'Ask and it will be given…'. I place this little cat in Your loving hands, Lord, and ask You to heal her and raise her up again. I’m asking because You’ve promised if I have faith…”
Now, I’m not going to tell you that a bright light surrounded the house or that Heaven opened and God’s voice rang out, “Truffie. Rise up and walk,” but the next day, Truffie started to eat. Her mood brightened. She purred. She was on her way. She would recover!
I know that God cares for our cats and dogs and rabbits and horses and all our pets. Not because there’s a verse in the Bible that specifically says so, but because we love them and He loves us enough to want our joy to be complete. He promises that if we ask and have faith, we can move mulberry trees into the sea, or move mountains from here to there, or maybe it’s all about teaching us to take all our cares to the Lord, no matter how big or small.
Truffie is living proof. God gave me the victory. God answered my prayer, and yes, I’m convinced.
God loves cats.
Can barely type through the tears, Elaine. One of the best posts I have read. I am going to share it with friends who love their pets as we do. God has answered two very impossible (well, not for God) prayers about pets for me. Long ago, we had two Irish Setters who were 6 months old. We took them for a walk in the Stanford hills. Fanny tried to jump over a cow grate and did not make it, falling on her chest. Jim went to pick her up. I knelt on the ground and prayed to God she would not have a broken chest. Jim carried her to the car while I cried. She could not walk for two days - but her chest was fine, and I knew the moment I put my hand on her chest in the hills praying to God, he heard me and healed her. There is no way her ribs should not have been broken. Another miracle was when I had to give away my 3-month old Westies because my father was dying and I was overly stressed with his care. I cried nightly, missing the dogs so much. It's a long story which I won't write here, but one day I prayed to God and said "If there is anyway you can give me my dogs back, I am so heart broken, etc." That morning at work I got a call from my husband asking me to hurry home. The dogs were back. My Buffy had nipped at the fingers of the 3 yr. old child in the family that had adopted the dogs. They had called my husband (after 3 months of the dogs living there) and asked if we might be able to take them back. Yes, God loves our pets--cats and dogs who love us unconditionally like God does- I have no doubt all of our pets will be with us in heaven!
Thanks for your kind remarks. What would heaven be like if we didn't have birds and trees and flowers and pets? I'm sure there will be this much and more.
Proverbs 12:10:
"The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel." (NKJV)
Loved your article! I agree!
Thanks for the verse. I couldn't find it when I was looking for some answers to my question. I'll have to add this one to any revised version of my story.
What an inspiring post! Thank you so much for sharing your story. Sometimes faith is all we have, and it matters. : ) For me, it's dogs. Can't live without them.
Amen, Elaine. Sometimes death is the ultimate healing, as it was for my last two cats (who saw me out of per ownership). But I have their pictures around me as I work at the computer. And sometimes I meet them in my dreams, or see a movement out of the corner of my eye--and I know.
Of course they are always with us in our hearts, like all things we love. Thanks for visiting my site.
Sorry, that should be 'pet' ownership.
Dogs, cats! Other pets. It all applies. I'm sure God hears our prayers for all our critters when they are in need. Thanks for your comments.
What a wonderful story! Thanks for sharing. In Genesis, when God made the animals, he said "it is good," so he must love cats. A few years ago my Snuggles lost weight and strength and the vets couldn't find a reason. I had him put down and wasn't going to adopt again for a while. Long story short, I ended up with another cat two days later and nowadays I'm feeding four cats!
So glad you have four cats. I'm sure they add to your life. I write a lot of stories about cats and even in my novels, (the first three, the Black Cat Mysteries) the cat is one of the protagonists. Even in the series I'm working on now, the WWII humorous mystery, there is a cat, but not as a main character.
What a lovely post, Elaine! This is a subject I've given a lot of thought to. I've come to believe God loves each of his children equally. We tend to think we're humans are the only ones he cares about, and that all others are here for our pleasure, use, etc. I think it's really the other way around...we're here to serve God by carrying for and protecting His wonderful creation.
I agree. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. God created the animals first and man created LAST. That suggests he was thinking of animals and maybe man was an afterthought? LOL?
In the book of Jonah, one of the reasons God gives
For His reluctance to destroy the City is his concern
For the people AND the animals!
You should have told me this when I asked you last year if there were verses to prove that God loved cats!
I pray for my pets. I am a Catholic; we have a long tradition of having animals blessed on the feast of St.Francis of Assisi, and people as his prayers for them all the time.St.Martin de Porres is another 'patron saint' of animals. Among other acts of his was talking his sister into making her home an animal shelter!
I hope Truffie has a long and wonderful life.I am sure every day with you,Elaine, is a wonderful day.
Yes, just another proof that God loves cats! Yes, Truffie is doing fine, not another sick day since the 'event.' Now, her sister is sickly and I have to harass God most days to improve her health as she suffers from chronic digestive disorders and upper respiratory weakness.
I'm so glad you liked my blog. Thanks you for responding.
Just what I needed!!! I am facing that old giant again who likes to hurt us in our softest places-our animals.
I know God loves what I love, but it is so wonderful to hear your testimonies.
Thank YOU and may God bless you and TRUFFIE!
Nora. Glad you found my post from several years ago. As I review the comments here, I think I'll repost it again. It seems to resonate with many people
A very beautiful story that made my day.