by Alisa Giroux
I first met Xena when I was volunteering at the local animal control. The animal control officer had called me to tell me that a feral cat had come in. The policy at the time was to euthanize feral cats. I was against that because sometimes cats would act like they were wild when they just were scared or had a hard life. I insisted on trying to work with the cats so they wouldn't be put to sleep. My husband and I went to see the cat. It was a beautiful white cat with grey markings. She was acting like something out of the movie The Exorcist. I told the cat that she better be nice because I could help her. I opened her cage and was able to calm her down with some canned food. She let me touch her! In a flash, she pulled the exorcist and tore me up. She deffinately had claws! I called the animal control officer to let her know that the cat let me touch her and begged her to let me work with her. Jeff thought that she was terrified. She was caught in a grocery store dumpster and that it was probably a horrible experience for her. I agreed. In a weeks time she was rubbing all of the volunteer's legs. She was a little moody but we decided to adopt her out through the no-kill organization that we volunteered with. To our supprise, Xena (I had to name her appropriately) had already been spayed. I knew that she wasn't feral. The adoption process wasn't going well for Xena. She was too moody and people were getting afraid of her. I decided to take her home to foster her. She had dropped some weight during the adoption process and she didn't seem right. I took her to the vet to see what was wrong. The vet would need to run some tests and take x-rays. The adoption organization couldn't afford the tests, so I adopted Xena. I guess it was fate anyway. The vet that the adoption group couldn't find what was wrong and gave her vitamins. That didn't work, so I took her to my vet. They instantly diagnosed hyperthyroidism. The condition was causing her to lose a lot of weight,kiney problems, and a heart murmer. She took her medicine like a trooper and gained a smidge of weight. In Feb. she suffered a stroke. My vet didn't think it was a stroke and wanted Xena to go to the university. I felt it was a stroke and was worried. I gave her daily massages and contacted a vet that specialized in cats. Dr. G was great and said that Xena had extremely high blood pressure and because of her heart murmer had had the stroke. She fully recovered and was again medicated. She preffered her pills in spray cheese. She became a friendlier cat. I loved her so much and liked being her servant. Xena was going to go to the university for thyroid treatment. We were also moving in to a bigger house. The day before we moved Xena was extremely loving. She seemed to have labored breathing and had to go for a pre-treatment physical. The physical was bad. Xena's lungs kept filling with fluid and her kidneys were starting to fail. X-rays showed that Xena was experiencing heart failure. Dr. G. was very upset because it was a rare heart problem that couldn't be helped. Our backs were up against the wall. We could no longer fix our Princess. We gave her the peaceful injection that gave Xena the gift of eternal peace. She was so beautiful. Even though she was only with us a year, I feel like I've known her a lifetime. Xena has left a pice of her to help cats. She gave her heart to a study to learn more about heart problems in cats. She is a tuffy and will win that battle for other cats!! We miss you Xena-beena-boo, The Warrior Princess. Thanks to Dr. G.- you are the greatest! Thanks to my husband for being a sweetie and not complaining about the frequent vet bills. To all animal lovers, thanks for your thoughts. Please support your local animal shelters.