When Morgan disappeared, I had no kitties left in my house, so I found some advertised free at a farm outside town. I went out to look and was horrified, and so glad that I was going to rescue one of these unfortunate animals. Sherlock was very interested, and very busy investigating me and snuggled up to my neck when I picked her up. That was it for me. Home we went. She was another gray tabby, and I can't find any pictures of her, probably because she didn't last very long.
I thought she was much younger than she was, because I soon found out that she was pregnant. She had a single kitten, Abbie. Abbie was also a neck snuggler, from a very young age. I was grooming her to be my brother Brian's cat. One day, when I got home from work, Abbie was struggling to breathe. She spent that night in an incubator at the vets, and tests showed she was FIV positive, as was her momma. Abbie passed very quickly. Sherlock hung on for awhile, not eating, but couldn't be saved.
This experience was one of my growing up stages of pet care. From this point on, no cat would join the family without first being tested. It didn't keep me from getting a FIV positive cat in the future, but it started me on my journey of more responsible pet care.
