In Memory of Alexandria

Alexandria was a feral kitten that was found on Ocean Blvd in front of K-Mart during the 9am rush hour traffic in Spring 1994. This is one of our busiest roads & she was in the middle of it. She was picked up by Officer Darrell King, now retired, who is a BIG man w/an even bigger voice. She was put into a paper grocery bag as that's all he had handy. Did I mention she was feral & had probably never been handled by a person before? Officer King came on the radio advising that he'd picked up a wild kitten and was enroute to the animal shelter with it. At that time our shelter was not a no kill shelter & this was late April/early May & kitten season was starting. They just put down the wild kittens right away since they couldn't even get the tame ones adopted out. I was working in dispatch and told him to bring her to me.

She was this tiny ball of fluff, covered in burrs & sticks, and fleas. She hissed & spit to beat the band, but never once bit or scratched me. I took her home & gave her a bath & brushed her fur out. The whole time she hissed & tried to get away (who could blame her), but she never once bit or scratched me. We figured she was about 8 weeks old, and we had just rescued another abandoned kitten a week before who was about the same age (cute marmalade male we called Bob, cuz half of one ear had been torn off). We also had a wonderful dog at the time, Buffy, who mothered anything baby. Buffy & Alex bonded right away & Alex became Buffy's kitten.

Alex never really did tame down & I couldn't catch her to take her to the vet. She would hang out with Buffy in the backyard. When she was about a year old of course she got pregnant. That changed everything. I knew she was preggers & was prepared to deal with the kittens & then live trap her & get her spayed. I hadn't wanted to do that because I wanted her to trust me enough to let me catch her-I know, that's silly, but I was younger & not as educated about feral cat populations. Well, anyway, after she had the kittens she showed up at the back door & was demanding attention. For the first time she came in the house voluntarily & while she was being loved on by my nieces & son, I went out to find the kittens. I couldnt' find them anywhere. Buffy was following me around the yard whining at me. I finally just asked Buffy where they were & she took me straight to them. They were really well hidden in the bottom of a stack of tires at the edge of the yard. There were five of them:two tabbies, one black, and one marmalade. Alex and her kittens lived in the house while she was nursing them & Alex thrived on the attention she got. When the kittens were old enough they were adopted out to very good homes and Alex got spayed.

After this she wasn't quite feral again. She'd get attention & loves when she wanted it, came into the house to hang out occassionally, and just generally stayed with Buffy. She liked me & the kids & would hang out with Gregg while he worked on cars & kept him company. She wasn't super friendly & no one outside immediate family was allowed to touch her. After Riley was born she decided that she really like Riley & would sit with her, even when she was a baby. After Buffy passed away, Alex decided she needed her own bed on the front porch. We provided one for her that was comfy & secure.

As she got older she wanted more attention from me & Riley. She occassionally wanted some from Doug & Gregg, but not as often. One day about a year ago, I was talking to a neighbor in our driveway & Alex was rubbing on my legs. I picked her up & was loving on her. The neighbor was shocked as she'd never seen Alex be so affectionate before. As soon as that was pointed out, Alex got this comically surprised look on her face, jumped down & sauntered off. It was like she hadn't even realized she had been demanding attention.

November 29, 2009, Alex had a stroke or something. A neighbor came and told us that she was laying the yard not moving. She was barely conscious. Gregg, Doug, and Riley wrapped her in some towels & brought her in the house. I was at work. I came home to see what was going on, and knew that she was near the end. I kissed her & loved on her one more time & had to go back to work. Riley stayed with her until she passed away. We buried her on top of Buffy's grave, and I got a marker for the both of them. Alexandria was almost 16 years old when she passed from this world.

It's really strange, it's been months, but I still expect to see her get out of her bed in the morning when I come out to feed the cats. Cassie has taken over her bed, but I think sometimes Cookie uses it now too. I really miss the little fluff ball & I hope she's happy in Heaven with Buffy.