For several months in 2006, an odd-looking but sweet calico cat persisted in hanging out on our front porch. Her eyes were very red, and she looked quite ill much of the time. It became obvious that she was pregnant, and because she looks so much like Sophie, our neighbors told me my cat had kittens in their shed, despite the fact that Sophie is a) indoors only and b) spayed. I never did see the kittens, and she showed up alone on my porch after another month. Eventually I decided she needed to go to the shelter, so I began feeding her to establish trust so she would go into the crate. Week after week, the shelter had no room for her, so I kept feeding her until they did.
One night, the stray showed up for dinner with bleeding eyes, and I felt too sorry for her to leave them untreated. I took her to the vet the next morning, and upon negative FIV and FL results, we went ahead with treatment and a spay for her. I brought her home with the intent to find her another family, but weeks went by, she was sweet, and Sophie got along with her, so she has stayed.
The vet’s records have her name as Stray. When we decided to keep her, initially she was named Fug, a decision for which I now apologize. It’s just that she looked like a fun-house mirror image of Sophie. I renamed her Impisi (Impi, for short), an African word for hyena, but when Joel came back from Arizona, he renamed her One-Eyed Wanda, which was too hilarious not to keep. (Both eyes are fine, but she still looks a little scraggly from the extent of their infection, and often one is not fully open.) Because of her propensity for Iams, the fact that she has doubled her weight, and that she tends to push Sarge out of the way to eat his dog food, I would like to add Plumptious to her full name as well. We go easy on her; she has had a hard life and is really sweet. She is definitely the last pet for awhile.
Wanda in July 2006
Wanda in January 2007
Wanda looks like a Popple from behind.
