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Happy Birthday, Sassy!

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Today is the day! What day, you ask?! SASSY’S BIRTHDAY!!!
Well, technically, we have no idea when Sassy’s birthday is, but today marks the one-year anniversary of Sassy joining our family! We like to call it her birthday so that we have a date by which to gauge her age. When we rescued Sassy last year, the vet estimated her to be roughly 2-3 years old. We decided to go on the young side, so that puts Sassy at 3 years young today!

We have gotten lots of new followers since we rescued Sassy last year, so there are many who have never heard Sassy’s story. I’m going to let her share it with you…

Photo: Sassy



HEY, everybody! Sassy here! Thank you for stopping by to celebrate my birthday with me. This past year has been the best one I’ve ever had, and I’m so excited to have a loving family and so many wonderful furiends to celebrate it with. 

For you to understand why this past year has been the best, I’ll need to go back and share my story, so here it goes!

This time last year, I was a homeless kitty. I spent my days wandering around an apartment complex, always in search of a safe place to sleep and some food to eat. Then one evening, I saw a girl sitting outside by herself. She looked like the nicest person I had ever seen. She was by herself, except for a bunch of drums she had with her, so it seemed like a safe environment for me. I went right up to her and started rubbing on her legs and meowing. She immediately started loving on me and giving me scritches. OMC they were the best scritches! Then she said to wait right there, that she would be back in a second with some food. She ran inside and brought me back out a can of food, which I scarfed right down. This girl continued to love on me until some other people arrived to pick her up. She told me that she had to leave to go play with her band, but that she would be back late that night and asked me to wait for her. Luckily I had seen where she lived when she went to go get me that food, so I knew where to wait. There was a bush right in front of her apartment, so I took up residence there and waited for her to return. I waited and waited, for what seemed like an eternity. Then FINALLY I heard her come home, so I ran out to greet her. She was so happy to see me that she gave me MORE scritches and MORE food! Then she told me she had to go inside to bed, but that she would check on me in the morning. She went inside, and I jumped over the wall onto her back porch and spent the night there. That was the first day I met Mom. 
Sassy on the back porch

This is me in the planter on the back porch. Mom put a towel over it so I wasn’t laying in the dirt.

Photo: Sassy helping with FIV researchMe helping Mom learn about FIV

Over the next couple of weeks, Mom continued to feed me, and I also met Dad! Their back porch made a great home. I was protected by the walls, and I had my own bed (Mom & Dad tried to tell me that the planter I had chosen as my bed was not a proper bed, and they even put a nice cat bed out on the porch for me, but I liked my pot of dirt). During this time, they tried to find the family that I might have belonged to. I tried to tell them that I didn’t have one, but they looked anyway. They eventually realized that I was a stray and decided to adopt me themselves. One thing had to be done first… I had to go to the vet to get checked out!

So one day, Mom took me to the vet to have me tested and vaccinated and spayed. The vet told Mom I was already spayed, and he also told her that I had AIDS. He explained that I would most likely only live a few more years and should just be kept outside because I could pass AIDS on to Mom and Dad’s other kitties just by licking them. I couldn’t believe my ears!!! Mom and I left, and she cried the whole way home. I so badly wanted to comfort her and tell her that I wasn’t sick, that I felt perfectly fine and not to worry! 

When we got home, Mom got on her computer and came out onto the porch to sit with me. She read anything and everything she could find on FIV, and I of course helped her. That’s how she learned the vet had given her very bad information. 

A couple days later I went to another vet. This one was much nicer. He validated all that Mom had read online – that I DON’T have AIDS, that I should live inside, and that I would only give FIV to the other kitties if I bit them really hard. This was such a relief to Mom, and to me too. It was a couple days after that that I got to go INSIDE!!! It was so warm and comfortable – much better than the outside! I finally had a home and family to call my own.

There is just one problem…. I don’t like other kitties. I forgot to mention that I have scars and missing fur patches from where mean kitties used to bite and attack me when I was living outside on my own. Because of this, I don’t trust other cats. I LOVE my mom and dad, but I don’t want anything to do with the other 4 kitties who live here. In fact, I try to bite and attack them whenever I see or hear them. That’s why I have to be kept separate from them. But that’s okay, because I have my own quarters! The whole upstairs is my domain, and I don’t have to share it with any other cats! I have three rooms to go between, and tons of windows to look outside from. And I get to sleep with Mom and Dad a lot at night time. I am trying to trust and get along with the other kitties, with help from Mom and Dad, but it is hard for me. Maybe one day I will change my mind about them. 

So today marks the one year anniversary of when I went from being a stray kitty to being a rescued kitty; of when I went from being hungry to having three yummy meals a day; of when I went from living in the cold and harsh outdoors to living in a warm and safe home; of when I went from being homeless and alone to having a loving family to call my own. This past year has been the best ever, and I can’t wait to celebrate many, many more.

Love,
Sassy
Thank you for stopping by to celebrate Sassy’s birthday with us! We are so grateful that it was our porch she chose to live on that day one year ago. 

We hope you will stop by on Monday for Part 3 of our FIV series – we will be sharing real-life success stories of FIV+ and FIV- cats peacefully living together. If you’ve missed the first two installments in the series, we recommend checking them out too – The Ins & Outs of FIV and The FIV Vaccine: What You Need to Know.

*If you’ve read our post on the FIV vaccine, then you know that there is no way to tell if a cat tests positive for FIV because they are truly infected or because they have been vaccinated. It could be that Sassy was previously vaccinated for FIV and therefore tests positive for the virus. This is a possibility, as she was already spayed when we found her, so she must have belonged to someone at some point. However, because we cannot possibly know for sure, we have to proceed under the assumption that she is FIV+. 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Summer says

    Happy birthday, Sassy! I don’t know what you were doing before you found your humans, but it sounds like you had some hard knocks. I’m so glad you are with a family that understands you and FIV – and I don’t know who that first vet was, but he should have his license revoked!!

    Reply

  2. Pawesome Cats says

    Happy birthday Sassy, you have found a wonderful home with Emily and her family! PS. We love that photo of you on the green blanket, it really brings out the colour of your eyes!

    Reply

  5. Tamago says

    Happy birthday, Sassy! We never know how you ended up being homeless kitty, but you did find the very best pawrents and true forever home! It’s terrible the first vet gave your mom such wrong information. But she is very smart to do her own research! I’m so happy you are safe and happy, and loved dearly. I sure hope you change your mind about other kitties some day. Wish you a wonderful day and many many many more birthdays to celebrate xoxo

    Reply

  7. Kitties Blue says

    Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday dearest Sassy, Happy birthday to you. You really hit the jackpot when you found your family. Some kitties before us found their homes with our Mom and Dad in just the same way. We kitties have good intuition when it comes to picking our pawrents. We really hope that someday you and your housemates will be able to co-exist in the same parts of the house. We all send you lots of love and purrs for your birthday, and Astrid sends Sammy kisses and kisses and kisses and more kisses. And she wishes Sampy luck at the Jamboree. Mau’s a little frustrated as his Patrol mates fell apart when in came to the Knowledge Bowl last night. He ended up doing 90 percent of it himself and knows he got some wrong answers. He’s hoping he doesn’t get demoted. Hope you will join us Sunday for our Sunday Selfies Blog Hop. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo

    Reply

  8. Ellen Pilch says

    Happy Birthday Sassy!! I love a happy ending and I am so glad you went to the right lady for food. Your mom is very smart to have researched FIV. I love the photo of you with the green blanket, it really shows off those beautiful eyes.

    Reply

  10. katnip lounge says

    Sassy, Happy Gotcha/Birthday! We are so happy that you chose such a wonderful Mom and Dad…indoors and safe is the BEST.

    Reply

  11. Sammy says

    Happy GOTCHA/BIRTHDAY Sassy!!! I think it’s wonderful that you knew just the right person to trust when you had no home. You found a place that’s safe, warm, and where you can RELAX and love your life instead of worrying about your next meal or who might attack you! Relax girl – you’re in the best of hands……
    Hugs, Sammy

    Reply

  12. Austin Towers says

    Happy Birthday Sassy! You struck oil when you picked the nice lady with the drums!! I hope you one day soon get to trust other kitties. I am sure they don’t want to harm you!! xox

    Reply

  15. da tabbies o trout towne says

    happee bee lated birthday two ewe sassy ♫♫♫ best fishes, mice creem dishes N happee day wishes two ewe; we hope yur day wuz rockin awesum way kewl FUN, hope ya getted lots oh pizza pie, N heerz ta happeenezz & health in de yeer a head ♥♥♥♥♥

    Reply

  16. LP says

    Happy belated birthday Sassy! We are so happy that you found such a loving and accepting family.Now you live the good life and that is exactly as it should be 🙂
    the critters in the cottage xo

    Reply

  21. Dezi and Lexi says

    Oh Bootyfull Sassy, Happy Meowday!!! Yous awe so pawsum and weez so glad yous found yous furmily and awe now ow furiend. Weez wish yous lots and lots and lots mowe wunnewful years wiff yous furmily. Hav da bestest day evew.
    Luv ya’
    Dezi and Lexi

    Reply

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