Shani - my green-eyed baby, the sweetest cat I´ve known. She´s so loving and always has to be with me - she even sleeps in my knee during my long hours at the computer. She is probably the most well-behaved cat I´ve ever had. Tasha is hopelessly spoiled, but Shani had a good upbringing. She definitely understands me, I don´t even have to raise my voice. Very smart.

But of course, when it comes down to it, she´s "only" a cat. Her life is sleeping, eating and being cuddled. She plays sometimes, but mostly not. Her age is starting to show, and she can get very tired and irritated with Tasha, who constantly follows her around, playing with her tail....Shani´s mother died at an age of 18 years old, in 1999.

Shani loves to watch the birds from the window and she also loves to go outside. I used to keep her on a leash, but there´s no need anymore. I trust her completely and so far nothing has happened. We walk around the park together, she eats grass and checks on me all the time.
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Since January 2001 she has been an outdoor cat and loves it. This summer she has been out more than in, all night as well. She has no respect for cars, that´s really all I´m afraid for. But she loves her new life and is as loving and loyal to us as ever.

Shani has never had any kittens and I feel a bit sorry for her for that. And now she´s too old for a first litter. But she did adopt an orphan once and did a great job of it. And she has taken quite good care of Tasha, as well as can be expected of a "middle-aged" lady who really prefers to be no. 1 in the household...She feels outside sometimes. Tasha draws attention from everyone, so I really try to be extra attentive to Shani everyday. To me she will always be no. 1.

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In September 2001 we had Shani neutered. She had a bad reaction from the pills and lost a great deal of fur, so we felt we had no choice. It was a tough thing to do on such an old cat and so much have changed since then. Shani is a totally different cat. She screams 24 hours a day, she eats and drinks about three times as much as before, she refuses to go outside. All she wants to do is cuddle (and eat). The vet has no answers, except that she seems disturbed, something might be wrong with her brain.
This behaviour is torture to us, and so is the thought of maybe putting her to sleep. But I´m afraid we might have no other choice. My sweet cat is driving me crazy.....

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In December 2001 Shani was put to sleep. It was a very sad and upsetting time for all of us, but she seemed to be suffering and noone could tell us why. She is now buried in a corner of our garden. We miss her a lot.