July 25, 1998
My name is Tiki, and I'm the newcomer to the family. I came to live with my sister Diva , and my new people on July 10th, 1998. I've been having a rough go of it so far, but these people are taking good care of me, so I plan on getting better real soon!
My story is not as bubbly as my sister Diva's. Diva and my people came and rescued me from the local shelter, where I was living. There was no fact sheet written up on me, so nobody really knows my history, but as with all shelter animals I'm just grateful to have a future now, never mind the history. I am around 2 years old and am a Siamese female.
On July 9th, 1998 my people-lady came to the shelter and visited me. Of all the cats and kittens there, she picked me! I was so happy to have a visitor that I purred and purred and purred and rubbed all over her. I sneezed on her too, but she didn't seem to mind. My new sister Diva got to pick these people, but that's kind of hard to do when you're locked in a cage in a shelter, so this lady picked me. I didn't mind one bit though, because considering how sick I became, I would have been put to sleep in a couple days if she didn't pick me! This lady liked me so much that she filled out adoption papers right then, and after I got home she told me she could hardly wait to get back the next day to bring me home. I think I'm pretty lucky to have found a loving, caring home, especially since I'm an adult cat.
On July 10th, 1998 I came to my new home, and met my new sister. The picture of us on the entry page was taken just an hour or so after my arrival. Diva didn't really know what to do with me, my new mom left me in the carrier for a little while to see how she would react, but she welcomed me right away. I was so happy.
After I got here, I explored the apartment's every nook and cranny. It was all so new and strange. Diva followed me all day and night, making sure I wasn't getting into trouble I think. If she couldn't find me she ran around making "meeewww" noises until I came out and showed her where I was.
On July 11th, 1998 I was sneezing really badly, so my people took me to the veterinarian's office. Diva hates the vet, but I don't mind going. My people held me and rubbed me, so I knew it was all right. He found that I had an URI (Upper Respiratory Infection), and a fever, and ear mites, so I had to get some medicine for all these things.
I got antibiotics to fight secondary infection, but they didn't work real well. Since I only weigh four pounds, and have had a pretty stressful experience (I even had to leave my 8 week old kittens at the shelter), I just couldn't fight off the infections. My people took me back to the vet five days later when I was wheezing and couldn't breathe and had severe conjunctivitis in my eyes. I got some more medicine, this time for my eyes, some animal vitamins, and another weeks worth of antibiotics and they took me home again.
My sister Diva left me alone for most of this time, it is as if she knew I was sick. She still had to always know where I was, but I spent a lot of time sleeping and she just let me be once she found me.
I have improved a lot since then, it's been two weeks and my eyes are getting better and I've stopped wheezing, but I still sneeze. For the past couple days I have been playing with Diva and my people and I even chase Diva around sometimes. She really likes that, I think she was lonely before I came to live with her. We were even snuggling together on a comforter the other night, and she lets me lick her, and she licks me back. I gave her a cold, but she's a strong kitty, and she fought it off really well.
Today I am not feeling so well, so I may have to go back to the vets on Monday if I don't improve. Mom suspects I was eating a plant which has made me sick, but I'm not telling. With the love of my new family I am hoping to beat all this, gain some weight, and become a long-time member of this family.
I am such a sweet cat and I have a lot of love to give. It is very hard for my new people to understand how I could have been treated the way I was, or how I could end up in a shelter and so sick. We all want to make sure that you get regular immunizations for your pets, as we didn't realize until now how many pet illnesses there are, and how they can make an animal suffer.
We also want to ask you to please donate some of your time or money to your local shelter, and to make sure you have your pets spayed or neutered. The next time you get a pet you could go to your local shelter first, there are a lot more animals out there like me who aren't lucky enough to find new people who will care for them. The shelters don't have the money or volunteers to look after them for long, and the worker at my shelter told my new mom that only 40% of the animals I stayed with would find homes. The rest have probably already been euthanized.
We'll be sure to keep you posted on how I make out. If they ever stop taking pictures, and go get the film developed, we'll post some pics of me here.
My people have done a lot of reading on the web about cats since I came here, and we've put together alot of the links they found to pet care and related issues .
I'm really happy you came to visit!
Lots of Love
,
Tiki
July 27, 1998 - I promised to update you, I didn't forget. I decided to come clean and admit that I've been eating the plants, my mom found a nibbled Dracaena in the living room, so the jig was up. I don't know why I nibbled it, I just couldn't help it! It looked so yummy, leaves hanging there enticingly, they sort of looked like grass blades - mmmmmm. Those plants seems to have disappeared now though, I can't find them anywhere! It's so mysterious.
I've moved on to the dried flowers today, I could
have gotten away with it too if they didn't crumble and leave those tell
tale signs around the vase. I've started feeling much better now,
can you tell? It's very fun to jump up on places and try out these
little delicacies. I'll try to behave from now on though. I
promise.
Bye for now.
Tiki
August 6, 1998 - Hi again. It's been four weeks since I moved in, and I'm glad to say that all my nasty infections have cleared up. I've even gained half a pound since coming to live with Diva and my new people! Mom says the difference in me is remarkable, my fur shines now, I'm up and running about (tackling Diva is great fun!), and you can't feel all bone when you pet me. Since my people have stopped bombarding me with medicines every day I've become very luvvy. I think my sister's pretty happy too, because I conned our people into getting us some mushy food to go along with our dry food (Mom got tired of me yanging every time she pulled a can out of the cupboard).
I'll be going to the vet's next week to get my booster shots (they had to be postponed for a week until my infections went away), and Mom is going to get him to do my ears for ear mites. We did them here for two weeks and cleared most of them out, but I've scratched my ears so raw that it made me cry when Mom put the medicine in, so we've decided to leave it to the vet to fix them up for good.
Speaking of "fix", that has to be done too. The shelter has a policy that all adopted kitties have to be spayed or neutered within a month of adoption, but since I'm just now on the road to full recovery, my vet says we'll have to postpone it a month until I regain full strength. That's okay though, my Mom loves us very much and insists that we be indoor kitties, so no more kittens for me. Tiki
August 21, 1998 - I've heard the people talking... I'm getting spayed in three days! I don't think I'm looking forward to this. Maybe it's all just a rumour.
August 27, 1998 - Well, they went and did it. Shipped me off to the vets office. Monday came and went, and my people were nowhere to be found. I thought maybe they had forgotten all about this SPAY business, but I guess not. Turned out that my mommy was in the hospital bringing our human sister into the world. But... they did come home, and they didn't forget about the spay stuff! I went in yesterday, now I have these icky stitches, and no more girl parts, I'm kind of sore but they tell me it's for my own good, so I guess I can't complain, already I feel much better and am pretty playful. I'm just glad to be home again :-)
September 10, 1998 - I finally got some pictures back. Come see my updated slide show .
October 4, 1998 - My family moved, and they took me with them!!! I'm here to stay! :-)
divatiki@oocities.com