This is Eileen.  She is very special to me.
You see, Eileen really belongs to me.
I signed adoption papers on her two years ago
but she lives with a friend because
I am just too allergic to short haired cats.

She is much loved and happy in her
home in this picture. One thing you can't
tell from the picture above is that Eileen
is missing a back leg.  She was brought to
our shelter by kind people who found her.
 She had been hit by a car.
 It was decided that kitty could be
saved but the leg would have to go.

Here is a picture of her after she
came over to the shelter before her hair
grew back in. Poor kitty.  It always
amazes me how quickly animals will adapt to
something like this.  We seemed to have a
run on 3 legged cats around that time.
 I wish people would keep them
indoors where they are safe from harm.

RULE #8 LAW OF CAT PHYSICS
(Law of Cat Disinterest)
A cat's interest level will vary
in inverse proportion to the amount
of effort a human expends
in trying to interest her.

She was a real character.
She became our shelter cat after several months.
No one would look at a 3-legged
black cat. We started letting her out during
the day to wander around so she would
get used to walking on 3 legs.
She would go out in the lobby and
"entertain" the people. She would always pick the
lap of someone who didn't really like cats and
would growl if they tried to remove her.
What a charmer.

Here is another picture of her taken at
the shelter where she acted like the
Queen of Sheba. Isn't she a pretty kitty>

One year in order to get into the
volunteer Xmas party you had to bring Eileen a toy.
When the staff would go on business trips
they would always bring Eileen toys and presents.

But she started getting outside when our
shelter staff changed and the Manager who watched
her carefully left and the new staff weren't
very careful about it and I was afraid
she was going to get killed, or hit again,
so I took her as mine knowing it
probably wouldn't work out.

I was driving home from work that night
thinking about her and I was getting
these really bad vibes in my brain about
her and when I pulled off the freeway,
instead of turning right and going home
I turned left and drove to the shelter.
I'll never regret doing it.

All the volunteers loved her but everyone had
way too many cats of their own and she
didn't appear to like other cats.  She sure
didn't care much for Rufus the few times
I had him at the shelter.
But she ended up at a house with
two other cats.  One died this past year
but she still has a buddy to play with,
plus a dog and she is doing fine.
 I hear stories of her all the time
and the trouble she gets into
and get to see her often.

 So even though she doesn't live under my roof,
I will always think of her as "mine".
 I guess I would at least be considered
an Honorary Aunt.

Christmas 2000: This year Eileen and her siblings
and mom invited us for dinner.
Friends Simon, the beagle and Brenda were also there,
and I wanted to show off new pictures
of Eileen and her siblings, kitty, Hailey and doggie, Bernie.

Eileen is:

Eileen says: