Happy 14th Birthday!!

To...
His Royal Highness, Alexander the Cat

Alexander entered my life nearly 14 years ago. I found his mom hiding in the stairwell in my condo building. She looked like a small kitten herself, but she had her four tiny kittens with her. I contacted a local rescue organization to see what could be done. I didn't care much for cats, but greatly preferred dogs, so I had no intention of keeping one. I did agree, however, to safehouse them until they were old enough to be adopted.

At the time I found them, the vet estimated they were about 10 days old, so their birthday was calculated to have been May 31st. The mama kitty tested negative for major diseases, so the kitties were assumed to be healthy too. Alexander nearly didn't survive his first few weeks. While not exactly sickly, he was not thriving. In fact, none of them were exactly thriving. I've always assumed it was because the mama kitty was still just a young kitten herself. She must have been someone's pet though, because she was litterbox trained from the beginning. She trained her kittens as well, lucky for me.

Anyway, given their weak start in life, we gave them strong names. Mama kitty became Cleopatra. The two make kittens became Alexander and Sampson. The two female kittens became Allegra and Reina.

Once they were weaned, it was time to hand them over for adoption. I had grown extremely attached to all four of the kittens and found it quite difficult to let them go. Cleopatra was not as difficult. She was not a friendly kitty, and was not an especially good mama to her babies. I ended up adopting Sampson and Alexander myself. I couldn't keep four of them in my condo. I didn't want to separate them, either, so I kept both of the boys.

Alexander and Sampson were with me through my divorce. They moved with me to my new home. They were with me when I remarried, and when we moved into our new home. They were with me through the birth of our daughter, Princess E.

When Princess E was born, she had a number of medical concerns. Her pulmonologist recommended several changes, including removing the cats from the house. It broke my heart to have to give them up; but I couldn't allow my daughter to suffer. For over a year, I tried to find a new home for my boys. I refused to simply drop them off at a shelter and hope for the best. After a year, I realized I was either going to have to leave them at a shelter, or find some other alternative, because I could not find a new home for them. I took them back to our vet and we made plans to introduce my lifelong, indoor kitties to the great big outdoors. It wasn't an ideal situation, but it was all we could do.

The boys adapted well to living outdoors. Our neighbor fell in love with them, and they spent a lot of time visiting at her house. Within a couple of months, the boys were visiting the neighbors all around us. Unfortunately, we lost Sampson all too soon, after he discovered antifreeze (we think) at a neighbor's house. Alexander searched for his brother for weeks.

As Princess E grew, her breathing issues became less problematic. Alexander is now an indoor/outdoor cat. In the winter, he stays indoors most of the time. In nice weather, especially during the spring, he prefers to be outside. I'm sure the birdies and squirrels would much prefer that he remain inside. We have no birdfeeders or other things to entice them. That just seems mean.

Alexander is now fourteen years old. He's a little slower, not much. He's still a playful fellow. His fur is still so very soft.

Happy Birthday Alexander! (aka FuzzBucket, FuzzMuffin and Cheez-It) I hope you have many more healthy years of life. I love having you as the furry member of our family. No, you may not get a birthday treat out of the aquarium.