About six years ago, a very good friend of our son Craig rented a house and determined that it would be great to have a cat.  That cat was Xena, from the Western Quebec SPCA.  Thereafter, my wife and I routinely heard from Craig about this phenomenal cat - how much she loved to steal small items and hide them, and how much she enjoyed playing.  About a year or so later, Craig notified us that his friend was moving out of his rented house and back to an apartment.  And that apartment would not allow pets.

 

So the lobbying began.  Why don't we take Xena?  We had never met Xena and had an aging miniature schnauzer, Bart.  The idea of bringing a cat into our lives and that of Bart didn't strike us as a good one.  The discussions about a soon to be homeless cat were disrupted when our son arrived home one
day with Xena.  His friend had moved to the apartment.  Xena couldn't go along.  She needed a home, even if just transitional.

 

One thing was immediately evident, and that was how much Xena liked Craig.  She really did connect with him and immediately adopted his room as her principal residence.  While we know nothing of Xena's early life, it seems probable that she had some experience with dogs since she showed no real fear of Bart although he was certainly less than impressed with her intrusion into our lives and his territory.  It became common to see Bart leave his spot on the loveseat and walk down the hallway with Xena stalking him.

As time moved along, our son bought his own home and initially thought he would take Xena with him.  However, he was busy running his own business and found he really was spending limited time at his new home.  In addition, Craig now had a second lady in his life and Xena did on occasion give him the cold shoulder over that.  Craig probably also noticed that Xena and my wife Chris had become very close and she was missing Xena's company.  A holiday for Craig and a plan to have Xena stay with us while he was away led to her permanent return to us.

Xena has always been an indoor cat, and shy about even poking her nose outside.  This past summer, we began spending extended periods at our cottage and decided that we would introduce Xena to this.  There were of course questions about whether she would tolerate the one hour trip, and what she would think about life at the lake.  Well, once again, Xena has surprised us.  When she sees things being packed up to go to the cottage, she's right there waiting - with that 'don't forget me' look on her face.  She enjoys the trip and has really taken to cottage life.  While not overly brave, she is now keen to spend time on the deck in the sun, watching people and chipmunks.

Bart has passed on, and Xena continues to be a great joy in our lives.  Independent when she wants to be and a pest when you don't want her to be.  She still enjoys the visits by our son and his new bride, and has forgiven them for adopting two cats of their own, Lily and Alvin.

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