02/01/2026
No one tells you how to do this.
When you live a life that is saturated in animals needs before anything else and at the expense of your finances, time from your children, and an emotional roller coaster that will literally break your freaking heart....you just try to survive it.
Not many people want to talk about the mental health of the person behind the rescue or Sanctuary (unless of course they are hurting the animals- that's another post). But I mean the toll it takes to know your job on earth is to save at the very same time you simply cannot save the ones you have let into your heart and home.
To heal.
To help.
To give.
To be there regardless.
To have endless empathy.
To comfort.
To make safe, in every sense of the word.
To face the reality that your efforts aren't enough.
To come to terms with letting go when every fiber of your being is to fight for them.
Its an inner battle that I have not been able to master in 20 years of rescue.
It never gets any easier.
It never brings me peace.
But that's the thing with rescue- its never about you.
You're left with all these what ifs, emotions, confusion and heartbreak but you are in service of the animal.
So it is always about what brings them peace. The right thing to do for each little life.
After 2 trips to Urgent Care, Smokey will enter kitty ICU as there is not clear diagnosis and Euthanasia is definitely on the table, but not until his team of veterinarians can determine if the cause of the fluid in his lungs is treatable or if the cause is terminal.
We are supporting Smokey with Oxygen chamber, fluids, antibiotics, steroid, diuretics, special food and a whole lot of TLC.
Smokey, I love you. 💙 We are committed to making informed decisions about such a final choice for your life. Hang in there buddy.
