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Angel
It is one month today since I lost my Angel. I want to thank
Dr.
Plotnick for being so incredibly sympathetic when I brought
in his
little body. And I want to thank all of you for the card and
the
donation to Cornell and for your kind thoughts. You all
understand so well how much our companions mean to us.
Angel was 18 years old, or very near it, and had never been
sick a day in his life except for his episode of acute
vestibular syndrome last August, so masterfully diagnosed by
Dr. Plotnick. His sudden death, after a particularly playful
and energetic couple of weeks, completely shocked me.
I adopted Angel in Los Angeles, just after the Northridge
earthquake of 1994. The news was full of stories of
abandoned and lost pets, with overflowing shelters. I was
staying in my daughter's apartment while working for three
months on a show, and she had been wanting to adopt a second
cat as companion for her boy friend's cat. I couldn't bear
to go to the city animal control, so went to a private
shelter, the Lange Foundation, who at the time did not have
a facility and housed their adoptees in veterinarians'
offices. In the office where I went there were about a half
dozen cats, and I asked to see the one who had been there
the longest. That was Angel, there for seven months, then
named Squint because he was blind and said to be an attack
cat. When they brought this beautiful flamepoint Siamese to
me, he nestled immediately into my lap and that was it.
Angel was never an attack cat, but once many years ago I did
catch a glimpse of his defensive behavior when he was having
his temperature checked. All of a sudden he was completely
wild, but I think it was partly due to having waited a
lengthy time to be seen, in a room with many barking dogs.
(Another reason Manhattan Cats is so appreciated.)
Angel moved to New York when my daughter returned that fall.
He settled in immediately with five other cats, all of whom
have preceded him over the Rainbow Bridge,- Mugger only two
years ago. He had graciously accepted four new kitties into
the family, and one of those, Gracie, also passed away
before him. Angel indeed had a long and eventful life. He
loved people visitors. He was not a picky eater. He played
endlessly. He slept always between my legs or on my pillow.
I was lucky to find him and he is greatly missed.
With many thanks,
Yvonna Balfour
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