Spunky Angel and More...

As Angel grew, she became the consummate opinionated Siamese, expressing her views and vocalizing freely. She loved high places and the chance to surprise whomever she could by suddenly launching herself from a counter or cabinet top. It took patience from both Samantha and me to teach this little mite that she would be fed regularly and consistently and did not therefore need to scale our kitchen garbage can for scraps. She did not adjust well as a bottle baby, and we never learned anything about when her feline mother was lost to her. There was speculation, based upon her behavior, that Angel lost her mother early and therefore developed a reliance on whatever morsels she could scrounge. While Sam swiftly corrected her table manners, Angel's fear of not getting enough to eat remained with her until middle age. As Sam aged, Angel became her helpmate. The two groomed each other and slept together in a ball at the end of my bed or splayed across my legs until another little girl found our home.

It was the spring of 2000 when a co-worker brought in two feral kittens. She took the female blue point Siamese, leaving her all black golden-eyed sister up for grabs. Her first stop? My office, dubbed the Little Gray Cell, a take off of a line from Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. Unsure of how she would respond to me, I sat quietly as her carrier was opened on my desk. She sniffed, looked around, walked up to my face, climbed up my shoulder and draped herself around my neck, meowing. For good measure, she also attempted to sit on my head which happily did not last long.

Bringing her to the vet after work, I discovered that the scales around her tail and backside were actually a raging case of potentially contagious ringworm. The phone call to my office informing them of this was particularly delightful. Fortunately, she was able to stay at the vet until medication cleared things up.

Her homecoming to the flat I live in presently entailed loud wailing as she spared no-one her dislike of riding in the car. Sam sniffed the carrier, gave me the evil eye, pushed Angel toward the still nameless newcomer and stationed herself on our sofa to watch further developments...To be Continued...