I was born in April in 1983. Both my parents were traditional Seal Point cats. Mom said she waited for me from the moment of my conception, was called immediately upon my birth and then had to wait 10 weeks for me to come home. I was such a tiny little cat I was given extra care by my birth mother. Mom got a call to come to the pet store and pick her kitty. She had a choice between me and my identical twin sister. She picked me up first and I knew she was my Mom. I started purring and purring. She looked deep into my eyes and asked me what my name was. Sasha was the answer. My Birth Mother, incidentally, was called Sesha. Mom didn't know this until she read it on my papers.

Our bonding took place immediately. Mom was sick at the time and she would lay on the couch and watch TV and I would lay with my head on her cheek and watch TV with her. I had an older 13 year old brother named Foochie. He was a traditional Siamese cat also. He went into a deep depression and quit eating and drinking when I came home. The vet said it was because he had lost his older sister a couple of months before and had decided she wasn't coming back. He spent two weeks in the hospital, Mom went to visit him every day. When he was healthy enough to come home from the hospital he ran away on his own. Mom was very sad when she found his body. I consoled her.

While Mom was looking for Foochie, she visited the humane shelter everyday, and she met a cat named Angie. Angie was bigger than me but I taught her how to play. She was timid and I liked to play rough. She learned. She was my companion and would sleep against Mom's back but never would let Mom pet her. I slept curled up in Mom's arms and I still do.

My kittenhood was wonderful. Mom took me on car rides to visit friends and go shopping. I had several cats that I liked to visit. I would chase them under the beds and make them stay there. In our house Mom had a big crewel embroidery picture of a tiger. I would run at high speed, up the chair and then jump on that tiger and hang from it, growling. I must have killed that tiger a dozen times before D-day. One of the walls in the living room was covered with grass cloth. It was such fun to climb all the way to the ceiling, before D-day. I also got a kick out of climbing the lace curtains and dropping off on Mom's back. Of course I had my claws sticking out so she would know when I landed and could pet me. That was before D-day. I was three months old when D-day came. You guessed it. I was declawed! What a cruel thing, it hurt and couldn't play my favorite games anymore. But Mom did hold me all the time until the pain went away. Angie seemed to appreciate it to. Angie had been declawed and spayed before she came home. At six month was S-day. I was spayed. My friends came over and we had Kentucky Fried Chicken and everybody had yarn for us to play with. Then we all got in the car and went for a nice evening ride - to the VET. The next morning Mom came and held me while they gave me a shot and I went to sleep. She was holding me when I woke up but I had a hairless tummy and a awful pain in my tummy. I haven't liked care rides or VETS since!!

I liked to steal peppermint candy from the bowl on the table and toss it in the air and catch it. I got so good that I could throw it into Mom's lap and then she would toss it for me. We played that game a lot. Angie and I were meant to be inside kitties but Angie just couldn't deal with it. She had always been an outdoor kitty so I got to play outside some to, but only in back yard and only when Mom was there. I was afraid of grass at first. One day Mom left the back door open for Angie and me to come and go while she took a nap. I brought her a whole nest of baby snakes and put on the foot of the bed. She wasn't any to thrilled especially since Momma Snake had followed me in the house. It was really exciting seeing Mom running around yelling and then finally getting all the snakes out of the house. She handles situations like that pretty well but the initial yelling is very funny. I broke up a few of Mom's get together with her girl friends bringing in Mice and Snakes. Mom finally starting keeping the back door shut and we had mouth inspection before we could come back inside.

Angie liked to catch birds. I don't know why. Mom bred cockatiels so we had a house full of birds plus we had two parrots. It really upset Mom to find a dead bird or an injured bird. She was having a barbecue one evening when I got my first bird. It was a baby robin. I ran with that baby in my mouth and the mama and daddy robin chased me all the way to under Mom's chair. Mom gently took the baby robin from me. Angie and I had to stay in the house for a week. The baby lived our back yard until it could fly and then we could go outside. Mom then took a class in bird rescue and cared for hurt and lost birds. I helped after that. If a baby robin fell out of the tree I would very gently bring it to her. We saved quite a few together. Last summer I brought her a baby dove that the wind blew from the nest. We took care of it for two days until it was strong enough to fly.

When I was about year old she brought home a silky terrier puppy named Nemie. I hated him at first. I growled, hissed and spit and he had the audacity to ignore me. I soon discovered that he liked to chase cats and I loved to be chased. Angie and I would gang up on him while Mom was at work. We would knock things off the dressers, you know, tissue boxes, shoes, jewelry and stuff. When Mom came home she would be so mad and yell at him for tearing it up. He was always in trouble. One night we had a party. One of the parrots got into it with us. When Mom came home after working 14 hours there wasn't anything left on the cabinets, tables, bookcases, nothing. She was mad at all of us. For awhile after that we were shut in separate kennels when she left. Angie and I went on several airplane rides to visit Grandma. Her house was fun to play in. Those puddle jumper planes were worse than an empty food dish.

Times started getting real hard for us. Mom got where she was sick most of the time and got really depressed. We had to move into a big old house with a yard full of weeds. There were mice everywhere for Angie and I to catch. We learned not to bring them in as presents. We were also glad to have Nemie as a guard dog because the neighborhood wasn't so good. Mom was in the hospital a lot and for long periods of time. The city would send a nice man everyday to feed us and talk to us. Mom picked up cans from the streets to buy us pet food. I know it was hard for her but she always kept us with Science Diet and Nine Lives. She had to go away to a hospital in South Dakota for 16 months. She found a new home for Nemie and Angie and I went to live with an old man in upstate Nebraska. He let us have the run of the place but he didn't feed us as good as Mom. We were glad to have a place to live, but I missed Mom so bad. Angie got really sick and I thought I would lose my last friend. It was so depressing for me.

Then one day after Christmas Mom came to get us. I was so happy and so mad at the same time. She took us to a motel for the night, I hollered all night and Angie was so sick. The next day she took Angie to the doctor and got some bladder medicine for her and some tranquilizers for me. We spent the next four days in a kennel in the car and the nights in a motel. Tranquilizers or not I made my feelings known.

New Years day we arrived in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mom took Angie and me to a vet. They had to keep Angie and Mom begged them into keeping me over night. The next day I went to a super neat boarding place for cats. The woman groomed cats and boarded cats and played computer all in the one room. Lots of people came to visit and play with us cats. Mom came everyday and held me and let me walk around. Angie soon joined me. I began to calm down and reconnect my bond with Mom. She had a man with a scratchy beard with her. He felt he had rights to pet me too. Finally we moved into a brand new house. A new dog, Sealy, a Schipperke puppy, moved in at the same time. Sealy is a great dog and loves us cats and we love her. We got furniture, landscaped the yard and had great fun working as a family building a new home and a good life. Then came Spike. Spike insisted on being top cat. She was quite nasty over the whole thing. Angie died in a cat fight protecting me. That was sad. Corina and Spatz soon joined us. Spatz was a mean male Schipperke. He just never has figured out the right way to chase a cat. I hated that man Mom was with. I bite him a lot. He wanted a lot of MY Mom's time. Still we were together and Mom spent a lot of time with me.

Five years ago we moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico. This house was fifty years old and had never had a cat or dog in it. We fixed it up to our liking and Mom landscaped the yard just the way I like. I loved that house. We have a courtyard that was just for the cats and turtles. From the courtyard we could get on top of the house. We could also go out into the front yard and hide under a weeping mulberry tree and watch people go by. It was a great vantage point to jump on one of my sisfurs or the dogs. One flower bed had big huge sunflowers with smaller flowers to crouch under. There were all kinds of bugs to chase. We had a pond in the back so we could watch the fish and the water turtle. Plus we got a parrot, named Whoopie. I'm the only cat he doesn't fight with. Mom just won't let him. She wants me on her lap and him on her shoulder. I learned to like that man. After all I was a flower girl at their wedding on November 8, 1997. I had a beautiful collar covered with flowers. So he's my Dad now. I'll let him hold me and I will even sit in his lap. I'm not afraid of anything anymore (except water). I guess with age comes wisdom and an acceptance of life.

Last summer we moved to a small home on a lake in southwestern Arkansas. Dad wanted to be able to fish. I don't understand why Mom and I ahd to move. Neither of us like fish. So here we go again fixing another house and yard so that it is perfect for kitties. Arkansas is a very green state and we live in the middle of the forest. Big shade trees are really nice. I enjoy napping on a patio chair under a shady tree when it is really hot. Squirrels run and play all through our yard. Birds are everywhere and all kinds. I really enjoy watching the woodpeckers. Occasionally I see eagles overhead. I can see the lake but I don't care for water so I don't go down there. I also make sure I'm in the house when it starts to rain.

Mom still isn't healthy so I take good care of her. I tell her when it is nap time and when it is bedtime. Sammy came to live with us in December 1997 and she has bonded with Mom as much as I have. We share caring for her. It is nice to have some help. Sammy and I both curl up in Mom's arms when we sleep. I have first choice over the lap. I am very healthy and the vet said I could live another fifteen years. The only health problems I've had is ear mites and I bit my bottom jaw with an upper fang. That was sure embarrassing. I do have some arthritis creeping in. Mom is more gentle with me now when she picks me up and when we make the bed. I am getting use to having my food and water dish next to me on my bed. I do have a stool to help me get to my food bowl during the night and a stool to get on and off the bed. I don't mind being pampered. I deserve it.

My favorite game is for Mom to run her fingers under the sheet and I pretend it is a mouse or a snake. She also plays get my toes. We can get into quite a fight over this. She sneaks up and pinches my toes or my tail real gently. I glare at her. She does it again and I'll try to bite her. Eventually I go for the kill and she laughs and grabs me up and I purr and purr. It is one of my favorite games. If she is working on the computer or crafts, I'll sometimes nip at her fingers to get the game started. I also like to be chased before bedtime. She has to catch me before we cuddle. I used to put up quite a chase but not so much anymore. If she doesn't try to catch me I give her a Siamese bellow right in her ear. She gets the idea. I have her trained real well.

Sasha
May 18, 2000