Lisa was a very special cat. My son, Chris, and I found her when we went to the animal shelter to look for a lost cat named Christian. We went on a Tuesday. This particular shelter had all the cats grouped in large cages by the date on which they were to be euthanized .. in other words, the cats that were to be euthanized on Tuesday were in a large cage labeled "Tuesday". Lisa was in the Friday cage. We approached all the cages with the heaviest of hearts, knowing the fate of these innocent creatures. When we approached the Friday cage, Lisa came to the front, meowing and meowing. She was just a tiny kitten, maybe 5 or 6 weeks old. She was unstoppable in her intensity. Wherever we moved, she followed us, meowing insistently. I reached in and pet her, admiring her moxie, her drive to get the attention of the creatures she seemed to instinctively realize were to key to her survival. "No, my dear, I did not come here for you -- we are looking for Christian," I said with a pain in my heart. We never found Christian. But we did return once more to look for him -- on Friday. When we approached the cage, Lisa was still there -- and again she came to the front, meowing and meowing. My heart went out to her. If I tried to walk away, she meowed more plaintively. The other cats were largely apathetic. I knew in my heart I could not leave her there. I said to Chris, "Well, I don't think we're going to find Christian ... but, you know, we can save this little baby." And so we took her home. Lisa was very ill, and the animal shelter did not want to give her to us. We had to sign a waiver saying that we knew the cat was ill and would not return her. For the first few days she would not eat and seemed weak and had diahrrea. We did not know if she was going to make it. The vet was testing her blood to see if she had a viral disease. After determining she did not, he prescribed antibiotics -- and Lisa came to life! Almost immediately she began eating everything in sight and her diahrrea went away. We knew she was going to make it! Make it she did -- with her new lease on life, Lisa never wasted a moment. She was a very active cat, the most playful of all our cats. Lisa never walked anywhere -- she ran and jumped, youthful to the very end. She loved to chase the "Kitty Tease" that was her special treat. She was incredibly athletic. Because she had lost her mother at such a young age, Lisa never lost her need for a "mother" ... and she found one in one of my other cats, Laurinda. Laurinda had had kittens once, and never lost her motherly instincts. She and Lisa were made for each other. Lisa would come up to Laurinda, and Laurinda would patiently lick her and lick her as if she were her own baby. Lisa would purr with an ecstatic look on her face. This special relationship continued all through Lisa's adulthood, until the very end. Finally, Lisa developed incurable pancreatitis, and because her treatment would require daily insulin shots for the rest of her life, something she would have hated, I reluctantly consented to have her euthanized. Lisa lived a long, loving, happy life. I am so glad we rescued her. We gave her 11 years of life. She gave us 11 years of joy.

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