Ayashe

Ayashe is the first cat the Lovey and I adopted together. He already had three cats, I had two, so how much more bother could one cat be?

We adopted Ayashe (named Gorgeous Girl when she came to us. Yuck. So we changed it to Ayashe - which means Little One in Cherokee) from the Santa Clara Humane Society in October, 2006. She had been there for over 6 months and was curled up in the back of her cage, all depressed. She is BEAUTIFUL, and I am partial to cats with Siamese markings. She captured my heart right away. All 6 pounds of her.

Ayashe is bi-polar.... she is nasty and rotten during the day, and jumps up on the bed and curls up on top of me at night. The sweetness that she displays at night endears her more to us during the day. We KNOW this cranky cat has a soft spot.

In December, 2008 and February, 2009, we had to put down two of the Lovey's original cats. It was a difficult few months. The day after the second one was put to sleep, Ayashe got pancreatitus. She spent four days at the vets, lost almost two pounds (not much, but when you only weigh six pounds, two is 1/3 of your weight). With medication, she got through the attack, but literally the day after she completed her treatment she had another attack. And then another. And another. Each time she has an attack, a bit of her pancreas dies. Drastic measures ensued.

I decided to make her food. She refused to eat it. She only would eat food that we ate. I am firmly against this, but I really wanted to keep her alive. So I gave in. Pretty soon I was cooking for her. And if she didn't eat it, the Lovey and I had it for dinner. Very backward, indeed. She also gets acupuncture twice a month. Since the acupuncture and change in diet began, and continued steroid shots every three weeks from the regular vet, she has been doing alright. She has not had an attack since April.

Her personality is a bit different. She no longer is as feisty as she used to be, and she doesn't sleep with me at night any more. She only weighs five pounds, give or take. But she is alive. And when I give her food, she rubs up against my hand and purrs. I'll take it!