Weasie was born in late July or early August of 1992. She, her brother Puppy, and at least one other sibling were found in the lobby of an apartment building abandoned in a box.
A resident of that building took them in, and just happened to know a friend of mine through work who said he could find a home for Puppy and Weasie. The rest is history; they were brought to me as an early Christmas surprise on 12/4/92.
After going outside just ahead of a snowstorm the following March, Puppy vanished, never to be found. Poor Weasie grieved heavily for 2-3 weeks but then got on with life.
That July, I decided to celebrate Weasie's approximate first birthday in honor of all that she'd survived during that year: abandonment, relocation, and the loss of her brother. The party ended up being postponed for a week. After several days' absence, Weeze showed up in a neighbor's yard crying. She was unable to scrunch under a fence or to jump. Even as people appeared bearing canned cat food for the party, I was putting her in the car to go to the vet emergency room. Some hair trimming revealed the cause of her pain: she'd apparently stepped on a tree branch which broke and sent her sliding down the trunk - a cut and an abrasion both ran the length of her midsection.
Luckily she healed with only antibiotics. As for the birthday party, it went on with a smaller number of guests on its new day.
I didn't mark birthdays 2 through 13; then when the 14th rolled around I decided it was time to celebrate her living so long. From then until her 19th (her last), she got feted each year with a big and specially decorated cake (one year the bakers put toy mice in the icing.) Even while musing the sanity of a birthday party for a cat, people always enjoyed those gatherings and were generous with their gifts of toys and canned food. Weasie seemed to know the parties were in her honor, making the rounds and - for her 19th - even sticking her head out the window the minute everybody started to sing "Happy Birthday." (She promptly came outside and ran past the assembled group.) I'll always be sad that she didn't live to see The Big Two-Oh, but she lived a good life.
As opposed to Weasie, I don't do any birthday celebrations for Blaliko and Seteria. Blaliko is a rescued stray; there's no telling exactly how old she is let alone when her birthday falls. Our tradition is a can of tuna every Mothers' Day. Seteria, "Blaliko's Baby," entered this world sometime in mid-March to early April of 2012. (It's impossible to know when for sure, because she was part of a litter of six Blaliko gave birth to outdoors and kept well hidden. When she dodged traps for long enough to not be turned over to the SPCA, I took her in so she wouldn't be - eventually - caught and euthanized.) That time of year is not conducive to an outdoor celebration around here, so poor Seteria has to do without. But not every year - if she's around when Mom gets her tuna, they have to share.
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I have no doubt you will make wonderful cat guardians.
