Calico Cats Picture Gallery: Summer

This is my angel kitty Summer. I found Summer when I was working as a riding instructor at a girl scout camp in 1988. She was a pitiful, skinny little thing who showed up around the dining hall. I took her with me to the tack room and began feeding her. I took her home to my parents' house with me. They were out of town so naturally I rushed her to the vet to get vaccinations and spayed so that when they returned, they could not tell me "no." They already had several cats. Summer tested positive for feline leukemia. Upon further testing, we discovered that she was a carrier only and not shedding the virus, so the vet said she would be fine with other cats.

When I moved to Louisiana in 1991 for grad school, I had to leave Summer in KY. She would have been miserable without her cat pals. One night in 1995, I woke up from a dead sleep and said "Sum Sum??" (her nickname) out loud for no apparent reason. As it turned out this was either the day before or the day of my parents' having to take Summer to be put to sleep, as the FeLV had finally gotten her. I think she must have sent me vibes that night, to wake me up and tell me goodbye.

A few weeks later, a fat white cat showed up at our place and Abbey never left. We think Summer sent her to us. I miss my little calico. She loved to walk just out of reach, squeak, and flop down so we could go to her and adore her. My dad said she must have had round feet, as she was always flopping over. He called her "little kitty flop and squeak." Summer is now at the Rainbow Bridge, where I know that I will see her again.