A Snowflake in My Hand

Rating:
Summary: Touching
Review: A wonderful book. You will meet many charming cats on your jounrey here that will stay with you forever.

Although this book is only 150 pages, it took me a long time to read it. While many things made me smile or laugh out loud, far too many things made me cry and I had to stop reading and set it aside for awhile. I often wondered if I could even finish it, but I am glad that I did. It is a book that truly touches the heart.

Rating:
Summary: You will cry, smile, laugh, it's wonderful, you'll love it
Review: I have not read the book only listened to the tape (the book is on back order). I and my wife have a deep and long time love for our 6 (yes six) cats and these tapes only served to not only deepen those feelings but to better understand how our lives are so much better because of them. I also work with students in the field of patient care (people patients)and will use this set of tapes to help them better understand those patients that they will be working with once out of school. If we are able to give unconditional love for others the way cats give there love.... oh what a wonderful world it would be.

Rating:
Summary: Real life experiences with animals-warm and sharing and sad.
Review: I too work in an animal rescue role.Not a hospital,my home-I foster cats,over 300.They are a source of joy and laughter and pain and loss.When I read a book that I relate too and can understand the writer's feelings and cry a little and laugh some and think about my own special animals and how fleeting their time with us is.Enjoy your fuzzy friends is a good motto.This book is very highly thought of in my circle of rescue workers and volunteers.Just wear water-proof make-up when reading.I keep a copy in my car-lent it out to special people in need of a good read.Love this book.

Rating:
Summary: A must for animal lovers
Review: It is a simple book, written for the average person. Nothing fancy, just a book written from the heart. If you've ever had the love of a cat, dog, or any other creature in your life then please get this book. It will warm your heart and make you feel what it's like to know true, sincere love. For those who think that humans are the only creatures with souls and feelings, your should read this book and maybe realize that we are truly not alone, there are intelligent and caring lifeforms all around us.

Rating:
Summary: "Quality of Life" for the Heart and Mind
Review: The affecting cover painting drew me to buy this book, and it changed my life--I'm not exaggerating. I ended up requiring it for my college "Psychology of Loss" class and recommending it to my "People & Animals" class. Samantha Mooney grasps the preciousness and depth of each cat's life as she recalls the feline personalities she met on the animal cancer ward where she worked. Better than any professional manual I've read, Mooney's deceptively slim volume presents the issue of an animal's "quality of life," and its place at the core of deciding whether and when to euthanize a beloved, sick companion animal. Blending genuine emotion with her professional commitment to care and assistance, Mooney captures the fragility of these brief lives--like snowflakes melting in the warmth of the human hand that would save their beauty and uniqueness--these brief lives that share and change our own. I came to love every cat remembered in these pages as I read and reread them, particularly Fledermaus, Mooney's tiny, mysterious friend, who has affected Mooney most of all. I passionately recommend this gem of a book to any reader interested not only in cats and any of the animals with whom we share the world, but also anyone who must deal with questions about the meaning and quality of life, the possibilities and limits of medical care, and the ways we risk love--and face grief in the wake of loss. I treasure my dog-eared (!) copy of "A Snowflake in My Hand," and though I wish I knew Samantha Mooney personally, still I feel I have gotten to know her as well as the cats in her life, and to feel they are friends. As long as we keep our loved ones in memory, we do not lose them.

Rating:
Summary: "Quality of Life" for the Heart and Mind
Review: The affecting cover painting drew me to buy this book, and it changed my life--I'm not exaggerating. I ended up requiring it for my college "Psychology of Loss" class and recommending it to my "People & Animals" class. Samantha Mooney grasps the preciousness and depth of each cat's life as she recalls the feline personalities she met on the animal cancer ward where she worked. Better than any professional manual I've read, Mooney's deceptively slim volume presents the issue of an animal's "quality of life," and its place at the core of deciding whether and when to euthanize a beloved, sick companion animal. Blending genuine emotion with her professional commitment to care and assistance, Mooney captures the fragility of these brief lives--like snowflakes melting in the warmth of the human hand that would save their beauty and uniqueness--these brief lives that share and change our own. I came to love every cat remembered in these pages as I read and reread them, particularly Fledermaus, Mooney's tiny, mysterious friend, who has affected Mooney most of all. I passionately recommend this gem of a book to any reader interested not only in cats and any of the animals with whom we share the world, but also anyone who must deal with questions about the meaning and quality of life, the possibilities and limits of medical care, and the ways we risk love--and face grief in the wake of loss. I treasure my dog-eared (!) copy of "A Snowflake in My Hand," and though I wish I knew Samantha Mooney personally, still I feel I have gotten to know her as well as the cats in her life, and to feel they are friends. As long as we keep our loved ones in memory, we do not lose them.

Rating:
Summary: A Compassionate Work Eloquently Authored
Review: The author worked for 10 years on the eighth floor of New York's famous Animal Medical Center - the eighth floor housing the cancer clinic.

All animal people will be deeply moved and inspired by Ms. Mooney's story of cats approaching a prolonged painful death. The little cats she came to know so well through their illnesses, will bring smiles amidst tears with the felines' courage, patience and spiritedness as they face each day living with a terminal illness. This small slim book is filled with warmth and sensitivity of inspiring lessons in human love, joy, loss, and triumph over grief.

Rating:
Summary: A Compassionate Work Eloquently Authored
Review: The author worked for 10 years on the eighth floor of New York's famous Animal Medical Center - the eighth floor housing the cancer clinic.

All animal people will be deeply moved and inspired by Ms. Mooney's story of cats approaching a prolonged painful death. The little cats she came to know so well through their illnesses, will bring smiles amidst tears with the felines' courage, patience and spiritedness as they face each day living with a terminal illness. This small slim book is filled with warmth and sensitivity of inspiring lessons in human love, joy, loss, and triumph over grief.