Today, Memorial Day, is the one year birthday of Aspasia coming to live with me. A year ago I decided to go to a local animal sanctuary, www.petsandpeople.com and check out the cats. It had been years since I had a pet but I had been cat-sitting for a couple of weeks for some friends and it made me long for one of my own. When I went out to the shelter I was looking for an older cat (didn't want a kitten) and who was already declawed. When I met Aspasia she was very friendly, licked my hand, and seemed right for me. The shelter worker pulled her file and told me that she was labeled as "unadoptable." Of course, that piqued my interest. The records showed her as having FIV, the feline immunodeficiency virus. FIV is not dangerous to humans but very much shortens the life span and health of a kitty. Most places euthanize cats with FIV but thankfully Pets and People is a no-kill shelter. Well, I went home to think about the cats I had seen and two days later came back to get Aspasia. She didn't freak out on the ride home--in fact, she never made a sound. I kept looking back to see if she was still alive. I pondered a name for a few days (she came with the name Annie) and after much research came up with Aspasia--which means "welcome" in Greek. I'm not into human names on pets.
As it turns out, she does NOT have FIV but she does have feline leukemia. Her expected life span is shorter than most cats but she lives a very happy & stress free life with me. I love her very much. So, happy birthday dear Aspasia. Thanks for being my baby.
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