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| Name: |
Althea
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Age: |
Ten years old
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| Gender: |
Female
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Kind: |
Cat
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| Home: |
Pennsylvania, USA
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This
is my very "special, petite, prinCESS Althea." She is special because
she was - without one doubt - meant to be mine.
I was anticipating the one-year anniversary of my beloved Merlin's passing to
the Rainbow Bridge through CRF (Chronic Renal Failure); he'd been not quite
eleven. I was staying at my mountain cabin and took a drive, five days before the
anniversary, through some mountain roads. On one unpaved, one-lane road,
halfway up a forested mountain, I found a tiny white kitten, mewing like a
lost bird; I could hold her in the palm of my hand. Of course I took her home.
It was late in the day, so I made her comfortable in my woodshed, in a large
crate with a soft bed, food (which she vacuumed up!), water, and a litterbox.
I wiped her eyes with a warm cloth, since they were stuck shut as young
kittens' often are. The right one opened, but the left one stayed closed. I
left her in peace for the night. (The shed has windows and is ventilated; I
didn't bring her into the house because I had other cats with me.) The next
morning, when I gently pried open her left eye, I was appalled: it looked
like a raspberry, all red and pulpy!
Of course, I'd made an appointment to take her to the vet, who estimated her
age at five weeks; she weighed exactly sixteen ounces. I was afraid he'd want to
excise the ruptured eye, but he didn't; he applied some ointment, gave her an
antibiotic, dewormed her - and charged me all of $11! He asked that I bring
her back in a week, at which time he said the eye was healing nicely.
During this time, I was playing with her on the porch; she would happily
chase a feather on a wand. :) Out of nowhere, the name Althea popped into my
head; I had absolutely no context for it - and no intention of keeping the
kitten, as I already had two. For some reason I still cannot explain, I
emailed a friend asking if she knew anything about the name Althea. Her reply
was that one of its meanings is "healer." Uh oh - I was healing from Merlin's
departure. Intrigued, I typed the name into my search engine; the result had
me staring at the monitor with my jaw dropped: Althea is another name for the
shrub commonly known as "rose of Sharon" - and my name is Sharon! There could
be no clearer sign - she was absolutely, positively sent to me.
Although she has at best very, very limited sight in the one eye, it has not
slowed her down; she can run around the house like a crazy woman. When my
parents moved into a continuing-care retirement community, I started taking
Althea for visits - and she immediately became a huge hit! She's been riding
on my shoulder since she was sixteen ounces, and that in itself causes quite a
stir. And then I started putting her into harness dresses: attractive dresses
with a D for the leash - perfect! The residents are entranced by this petite
cat (weighing only seven pounds) dressed for the occasion, whatever it is. She's
had her photo taken several times, and her presence makes many people smile.
She's now ten years old, but her petite size and round face keep her looking
very kittenish - part of her charm, no doubt. She's certainly Cat of my Heart!
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