Salem was an abandoned kitten. My wife, Reenie, was working at a PetSmart in Alpharetta, GA (just outside Atlanta). She was crouched down, looking or straigtening some items on a bottom shelf, when she heard a mew from a kitten. Wondering why a kitten would be loose in the store, she wanted to see where it came from. But, before she could stand, this little black kitten flew down the aisle and jumped into her lap. She fell in love with the kitten immediately. She spent the rest of the day at work trying to find his owner. Numerous pages over the store's intercom system yielded nothing. By the end of the day, she had decided; the kitten would go home with her. We had just gotten a kitten, and named her Bitsy. Bitsy had taken to me, and soon was thought of as "my kitten". Well, it was clear to me when Reenie came home from work, that this little guy would be a Momma's boy. My wife and I enjoy watching TV together at night, and had recently stumbled on the kid's show, "Sabrina: The Teenage Witch". On this show, there is a real black cat, and an animatronic puppet both named Salem. They both had extremely gold-colored eyes, and the kitten's were the exact same. It didn't take long before a name was decided for this new kitten. Both my wife and I agreed that he was definately "a" Salem. As the kitten grew, he constantly wanted to be near someone. Not necessarily a "lap cat", he would still try to sit or lay down near one of us. Frequently, he could be found sleeping on the arm or back of the chair that one of us were sitting in. When we were sleeping, he liked to lay up on the pillows and "touch" us. He was a prolific kneader. He would often keep me awake when he decided to knead (or massage if you will) my face while I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep. I believe it was because of his abandonment, that he was very wary of strangers. He would often hide in spare rooms, or under the bed when we had visitors. As I look back, I find that a shame. It would have been nice to have people meet this kitten. As a very young kitten, Salem had a bad episode with dehydration. For some reason, he had stopped drinking the water provided for him, and one day just collasped. When we took him to the vet, the couldn't explain why he hadn't been drinking, but immediately began rapid hydration. As a complication from this, Salem's teeth and gums became infected. He found it harder and harder to eat dry food, and so was left to a completely wet diet. For those that know, a completely wet food diet can lead to gum/teeth/mouth health problems, and so this caused his ailment to further deteriorate. He remained happy, and spry even. Constantly active, and not having any other health problems, we were hopeful that he would be fine. We were told that this may eventually lead to kidney problems, though. After a few years in Georgia, we moved back to Virginia. Incidentally, we had added a few more cats to our menagerie. And a few years after moving back to Virginia, we added even more. By 1999, we had 14 cats; and loved them all. But Salem, being #2 kitty always remained at the top. He would never stop being a Momma's boy. My wife and I finally bought a house in the last half of 2000. Finally it would be our last move (at least for a long while). All the kittens, even our skittish Salem, made the trip relatively easily (none of them really like car rides). As the summer of 2001 was coming to an end, and my wife's birthday was coming up (September 6th), everything was going well....except Salem. His kidneys had indeed developed problems, causing Salem to loose control of his bladder. We noticed he had been relieving himself in places other than our litterboxes. His mouth began to show signs of severe infection. I left a message for Reenie to call me at work when she got home (around 2 or 3am) on her birthday. I had wanted to wish her a happy birthday. I also needed to tell her that Salem had refused food (even Tuna and milk...which he loved very much). I really didn't want to tell her, but the kittens are our children. And, when a child is suffering you want to do anything you can to ease the pain. We made plans to visit the vet ASAP, but weren't sure what they could do. Only 2 or 3 am and already my wife was not having the best of birthdays. I arrived home that morning around 8am. Worried about Salem, I looked for him. He was normally by the door each morning, begging to be fed. He wasn't there. I walked down the hall, towards the litterboxes and looked in each one. Then I noticed him, laying against the wall, in the corner. As I realized what had happened, tears began to flow down my face. Some in sorrow, some in joy. I was sad that God had called him back, but happy that he wouldn't be in pain any longer. Salem, you will be missed. We love you. Mommy and Daddy.

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