I think it’s time for my second entry! Next, I’ll introduce the oldest of my four-legged family members – Artemis. Yes, she really is the physical embodiment of the Greek goddess ;).
Artemis will turn 18 in May of 2015. She’s very special to me. Here is her story:
One Spring day, my mother found a cat hit in front of her house. My mother always removes animals if they’re intact. She’d rather that than they be run over and mashed to bits. When she moved the cat, she noticed that she must have recently had kittens as she was full of milk. Unfortunately, we didn’t know where the kittens were. A few hours later, she was doing yard work and found the kittens under our front porch – having accidentally sprayed them with ant killer and hearing little screams. I helped her remove the kittens from under the front porch. One had already passed and there were four remaining. They were very small. Their eyes were still closed and they couldn’t walk. We rushed them to the vet – we were told they were between 3 and 6 days old. My mother and I had nursed kittens before, but never ones this young.
We gave it all we had. We woke up every three hours in the middle of the night (rotating the duty) to feed them and my mother took them to work with her so they’d get fed often enough. At the time, I was in college, so the days I didn’t have class or wasn’t at my part-time job, they stayed home with me so that I could feed them, bathe them, and help them go to the restroom.
Unfortunately, Ares and Aristophanes passed away within two weeks. We ramped up our efforts with the two remaining – Artemis and Athena. We were absolutely heart-broken when Athena passed away as well. The only remaining kitten – Artemis. A few days after Athena passed away, she began exhibiting the same symptoms as the others. Again, we ran to the vet and pleaded with the vet to help us save her. A vet tech came to our house every day for two weeks to administer IV fluids to, and do a checkup on, this tiny kitten. Artemis made it through.
Because she was so tiny, she lived in my bedroom (I lived with my mother while in undergraduate college). The first three months of her life were spent in a baby playpen that had a small and mild heating pad, stuffed animals and blankets. Her growth was stunted for a while, so she remained in my room as we were afraid my mother’s adult cats and German Shepherd (who absolutely adored baby animals of any type – including raccoons) would accidentally hurt or kill her.
She bonded with me and came to see me as her mother. Because of her isolation, she didn’t like other cats and when she was finally big enough to introduce her to the rest of my mother’s flock, she terrorized my mother’s other cats. It was decided after two months of trying to integrate her, that she’d have to live her life in my bedroom until I moved out post-college. And, the rest is history.
I learned later that if I introduce a cat to her that’s a small kitten, that she’ll put up with it. So, our flock currently has four cats (one of which is the introductory post to this forum thread). At this very minute, she’s sitting next to me as I type this. Artemis has been my constant companion for over seventeen years. When I’m in bed sick, she’s there with me. When I’m playing LOTRO, she’s there with me. Her health is declining and I know that one day in the not so far future, I’ll lose my best friend. But, until then, I will cherish every second I have with her.
I know this was a long story – please forgive my gushiness when it comes to one very special cat – Artemis Doomslayer :).
