Photo Contest

Pet number and name: 049 - Merlyn

Submitted by: Lisa - CA, USA

25% of profits to: 
Our Lady of Mercy's Catnip Cottage

Merlyn stole my heart, plain and simple. I was looking for a third cat in between the ages of my other 2. I saw him on Petfinder but he was in another city and I don't have a car, so I didn't really do anything about it.

A few weeks later on my day off, I clicked on the link in my favorites and there he was-and full blown head over heels in love with this 12 yr old red boy.

I had to beg my apt manager to let me have a third cat. I posted on a yahoo group asking for a ride to go get him and a wonderful friend rented a car 3 days later for us to drive two and half hours to get him!  Merlyn played with the toy in the get acquainted room and then tried to bite me and I was more in love! As a behavior volunteer for a shelter, I knew how to deal with that!

He was closer to 13 years old, and had a chronic toe infection leading to a toe amputation shortly after bringing him home.. a year later it was a feline diabetes diagnosis.. and it brought us so much closer than I ever thought possible. Merlyn can be a cranky guy but he let me do his insulin injections and ear testing, and with the help of the folks at Felinediabetes.com, he went off insulin- a diet controlled kitty, and has been for 3.5 years.  A month after going off insulin we got the kidney disease diagnosis, and yet again, Merlyn was a trooper and let me do his subQs..we have done those since August of 2005.  In November of 2006 we had to rush to the ER because he couldn't poop, and was bleeding back there.  We got a horrible diagnosis of a heart condition and later discovered he has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, with severe left atrial enlargement.. he was so weak from his heart condition that he was unable to push the poo out. Well, hes defying all odds, and is still with us almost 2 years later. His heart is worse, and I dont know how much time I have with him, but as he has said to my animal communicator friend, he hates it when I get morbid.. so I will love him entirely and thoroughly...he is truly my "heart kitty" in more ways than one. The other 3 cats know this and accept it.

Merlyn is a very dignified cat. He loves to shake up the status quo however, and does do things out of the blue that he has never done before to see my reaction. Like when he started getting on my chest at night, or sleeping under the covers... which I loved. In a prior adoption, he was manhandled by young children-this I believe is why he bites sometimes, and why he didn't like to cuddle when I first got him.  It has been so amazing to have him be ok with the occasional hug, and watch him blossom. I would have loved to have him as a kitten, but he wouldn't have had the same experiences and wouldn't be the cat I love now.

Merlyn is probably my Once in a Lifetime Cat. In February 09 we will celebrate 6 years together, and I want more! They are all special in their own way but some target your heart and don't ever let go.