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We first saw Ella in early 1999. A very people-friendly little girl, she was
hanging out with neighbors across the street, and came over once or twice just
to say "hi".
Then, in October that year, the neighbors moved. One of the last things they
did was drive Ella several houses down the street and let her out...it looked more
like they were telling her "this is where you belong, now stay here" rather than that
they were dumping her, but there's no way to be sure.
My hopes that whomever lived in this second house were caring for her were dashed
as she gravitated more and more often to our front porch and the now infamous kibble
bowl. By early December, it was clear that she was pregnant.
She had the babies on December 23, 1999, a pretty little girl and boy with
decidedly Siamese-mix markings, and hid them inside our roof through a hole we
were unaware existed. They were discovered there on January 22, 2000, and all three
were moved inside the house. The babies stayed until they were just over 8 weeks old,
and then, made possible by the internet and the assistance of a wonderful volunteer,
they were transported to their True Home.
The plan was to have her neutered immediately after the babies left, and try to find
a place for her once she'd healed post-op as well. The vet was called, and the earliest
appointment wasn't for another two weeks....which would mean nearly another month before
I'd feel comfortable letting her leave.
Without admitting the meaning of doing so out loud, we abruptly named her.
To the chagrin of the other cats, two of whom had been so curious about the goings on in
the back room that they snuck in on separate occasions and were beaten off by a mommacat with
fire in her eyes, the pretty Ella now has a True Home as well.
Ella is a people cat, she's happiest when standing on a human lap, kneading a tummy or chest,
practically nose-to-nose. A quiet girl, she doesn't interact much with the other cats. Buster
Badseed occasionally decides to tease her, with subsequent hissing and mostly air-whaps, and
(in a real surprise), the perennial victim-cat Neko seems to feel that hassling Ella is a fine
way to work out her frustration when Mietze gets after *her*, but for the most part a fairly
solid truce appears to have been worked out.
She is the one and only cat that the ferrets seem to respect and stay clear of....what *did*
she say to them?!! :-)
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