This is Whiskers, the cat who started it all. We adopted him from a shelter when I was 14 years old. A few weeks later, he swallowed a sewing needle and thread. We took him to a local veterinarian who took an x-ray. I saw the needle on the x-ray, saw how caring and concerned the veterinarian was, and decided, right then and there, that this was the career for me. The rest is history.

Below are Brandy, and his sister, Gigi.  I adopted them when I moved away to college, at the University of Florida.  These were wonderful cats, and they helped me get through veterinary school.  Gigi was the sweetest cat I have ever known.  In veterinary school, our cardiology instructor told us to practice listening to our cats’ hearts at home, with the stethoscope.  I tried with Gigi, but it was never successful, because whenever I put the stethoscope on her chest, she began to purr immediately, and I could never hear the heart. Brandy eventually developed hyperthyroidism and renal failure and died at the age of 12.  Gigi lived on, for another six years, and died of old age in her sleep at the age of 18 years, 2 months.  Although I’d had cats before and after Gigi, she remains my favorite cat, the cat I loved the most. We were inseparable, and although she’s been gone for almost six years now, I think about her all the time, especially when a long-haired tortie and white cat shows up in my exam room.

We can’t forget Emma. After graduating veterinary school, I worked in a feline practice in Maryland. At that time, I added a third cat to the clan, a tortie-tabby named Emma. She was a total character, a hilarious cat whose antics made her the star of the household. From the way she would fetch her favorite rubber bracelet toy (over and over, like a retriever), to the way she would stand up on her rear legs to meet your hand as you brought your hand down to pat her, she never failed to amuse. Sadly, a kidney disorder resulted in her untimely death at the age of 6. Six short years, but a lifetime of good memories.

Currently, I have two cats, Crispy and Mittens. I adopted Crispy from the ASPCA while I was employed there. She had come into the hospital as one of our cruelty cases. Someone had immersed her in scalding water, and she was in pretty rough shape. Her ears tips and tail didn’t survive the heat, but her spirit survived intact. Seeing her in the Intensive Care Unit will her bandages, I decided right there that if she pulled through her ordeal, I would adopt her myself and spoil her rotten.    Bad move.
Little did I know that the cute kitten would grow up to be a rebellious beast with the brain of Einstein, the body of Buddha, and the charm and grace of Courtney Love. She recently turned six, though, and she’s beginning to mellow. The truth is, I love this cat like you wouldn’t believe.

Crispy