A Cat Named Purl

It was a dark and...nah, just a dark night in May 2021 (May 26th to be exact). My three cats, Lzzy, AreJay & Beaker started carrying on, hissing & growling, down in the basement/garage. I headed down the stairs to go check. I thought maybe a possum or raccoon had wandered in, so I grabbed a broom to shoo it out.

Nope, it wasn't a wild critter. It was a skinny half-grown kitten who walked right up to me, purring. As I sat down to figure out what to do next, she climbed up onto my lap, still purring. Yep, the sound I heard next was my heart swelling with instant love for my next cat because, sure, I needed another cat...

The next sound I heard was similar to Darth Vader breathing. "Oh great, she's sick." Her fur was a greasy, mousy brownish-grey, although I suspected that without her respiratory infection and malnutrition status, she'd be a pretty grey with medium length fur. She was missing her bottom front teeth (the incisors) and she proceeded to snort/sneeze a huge amount of snot onto my lap. Oh boy!

I took her inside, gave her a bath that she did not appreciate, but behaved well for (for a cat). With her fur wet from the bath, you could see every bone in her body. So skinny! I held her while she dried and she fell asleep. 

In the meantime, my trio of cats were hiding under my bed; truly scaredy cats. I set her up with food, water, litter box and a kitty bed in my spare bathroom. She immediately started eating the food, which was good since cats with upper respiratory infections usually don't eat well since they can't smell the food.

She remained quarantined in the bathroom for a few days and the other cats would growl as they snuck past the door, as though I had a holy hand grenade hidden behind it. 

I took her to the vet's and it was determined that she was probably not contagious to the other cats. I went home with a long term round of antibiotics and some other medications. That night, she slept in my bedroom. I awoke with her draped across my neck, snoring away. Yup, I now have four cats and deserve the title 'Crazy Cat Lady'. 

It took some time to think up a name for her. 'Darth Kitty' was in the running for a while. I knew that a common name like 'Fluffy' or 'Kitty' would not mix well with my other cats' names. Finally, I decided on 'Purl'. It was a nod to my knitting obsession and gave outsiders pause on the spelling: AKA Lzzy, instead of Lizzy; AreJay, instead of RJ; Purl, instead of Pearl.

Now, almost two years later, her respiratory whatever-it-is continues and I am constantly wiping her nose and listening to her snore. She hasn't gotten very big, but she has filled out from eating like a little piglet. She continues to act like a kitten and terrorize the other cats. Her fur looks better; still has a little brown in it, but a pretty grey nonetheless. I have to brush her constantly. Cats groom themselves. Add some giant horse sized boogers into the mix plus medium long hair and, well, you get the picture.

So join me in wishing Purl a Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary!