So when he requested her what was unsuitable, Sipe, 67, opened as much as him about her loneliness since her beloved cat died over the summer season.
“I was really going through a bad time,” she stated she informed him throughout her appointment in September.
King talked about that she ought to take into consideration getting a brand new cat. When her checkup was over, he handed her a printed abstract of the appointment, with directions to get a high-dose flu shot in October and a coronavirus shot in November.
Then Sipe’s eyes lingered on the merchandise on the high of the checklist: “Get a cat,” the physician wrote.
King, 63, has been a physician lengthy sufficient to know that “people sometimes don’t follow your instructions,” he stated. In reality, sufferers don’t take drugs as prescribed by their docs about half the time, in response to the American Medical Association.
King wrote down his recommendation so there could be no mistake about what he informed Sipe in the course of the appointment.
“Robin was down in the dumps, crying about the loss of her cat, and I felt that a new cat was the best remedy for her,” he stated.
He’d seen the research exhibiting pets can enhance a person’s psychological well being and assist older adults deal with emotions of loneliness. He’d additionally seen the consequences firsthand.
“I grew up on a dairy farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and we always had herds of cats and dogs,” King stated.
“One winter, it snowed so bad the milk truck couldn’t get to the farm, and we had to run 600 gallons of milk down the drain,” he stated. “The cats drank as much as they could hold, and they were very happy. Having them around was a wonderful experience.”
King was critical when he suggested Sipe to get a brand new cat, he stated. But he was stunned when Sipe, who has one grownup daughter, took him up on it instantly.
After leaving King’s workplace, Sipe stopped at a farm produce stand for some recent corn and cantaloupe on her strategy to her home in Grottoes, Va. While she was looking, she seen a black and white kitten romping round.
“She was from a litter of five, and she was missing her front left paw,” Sipe stated.
The employees on the stand informed her the kitten misplaced her paw shortly after she was born when one thing fell off a wall in a shed and severed it.
The kitten’s lacking paw didn’t appear to have an effect on her potential to play and get round, Sipe stated.
She was immediately smitten, and the phrases “get a cat” have been echoing in her thoughts.
“I asked if I could take the kitty home and told them I could guarantee that she’d be safe and happy inside,” Sipe stated. “They had four other kittens they’d need to find homes for, so they said okay. This sweet little kitten was mine.”
“I bought three ears of corn and a cantaloupe that came to $2.99, and they agreed that an extra penny should cover the cost of taking the kitty,” she added.
When she bought home, she stated there was no query as to what she ought to identify the frisky 7-week-old feline.
“I decided to name her Earlene after Dr. Earl King,” Sipe stated. “He helps with more than just my breathing. He’s always taken the time to look after my entire well-being.”
“In this instance, he also treated my heart,” stated Sipe, who first informed her story to WHSV-TV in Harrisonburg. “Everything changed for the better when I found Earlene.”
Sipe stated she has spent years fighting COPD and has been admitted to the intensive care unit with respiration issues a number of instances.
“I’ve had to be intubated and put into a medically induced coma,” she stated. “Dr. King pulled me out of death each time.”
When her cat Datura all of the sudden died, Sipe stated she cried for weeks.
“She was a solid black domestic shorthair that I’d rescued,” she stated. “I’ve loved cats since I started chasing kittens when I was 5.”
She thought she’d most likely get a brand new cat at some point, however King’s prescription introduced home the urgency of bringing again some enjoyable to her life, stated Sipe, a retired buying agent.
“I do believe this was meant to happen with all my heart,” she stated, noting that Earlene likes to look at tv together with her and cuddles up subsequent to her in mattress.
“She’s a sweet and loving kitten, but she does have this habit of waking me up to play at 1 a.m.,” Sipe stated.
“She likes to reach up and rub my face with her stubby little paw,” she added.
King stated he’s gratified that Sipe discovered a kitten so shortly, and that it’s bringing her pleasure.
“I’m really happy that Robin found a new cat — particularly one with a disability,” he stated.
Sipe stated a kitten was the proper prescription for her disappointment.
“As far as I’m concerned, she was the pick of the litter,” Sipe stated.
