It's her happy personality despite what she must endure that really sparkles. She looks for me to come out of the house in the morning, greet her when I come home from work or to just visit her in the evening! She's so grateful for any loving that comes her way.

p.s. I'll let you in on a little secret..."she" might be a "he" ... she already had her name so we stuck with it!

Some Updates:

• Please Say a Prayer for my Sweet Gray Lady. Her left eye appears to be hurting her. She's walking around with the eye closed. I think Squeak did it. Squeak doesn't like any other kitties to come around. I try to wipe it with a cool cloth when I can get help to hold her down. After that, she seems to open it again...for awhile.

• Gray Lady's eye appears to be healing. Thanks for your prayers.

• It's driving me nuts watching this poor animal being tortured by mites, lice, whatever. She is constantly scratching and acting like she's being greatly annoyed. She has long fur to begin with. Since no one has taken care of her, it is all matted. She's in bad shape.

• I made the decision to go ahead and pay to have her see a vet. The hair has to be shaved (it's a 100 degrees here!). She should get some shots, etc. I will make an appointment with the vet and try to catch her.

• Miss Minnie was about to make her very first Mini Rescue! I was able to catch Gray Lady to bring her to the Vet! Her fur was so long, matted & infested with all kinds of little creatures! I asked to have her shaved, cleaned, vaccinated, etc. etc. She had to be knocked out in order for all this to be done. The Vet called me at work to notify me that my Sweet Gray Lady (was really a male and neutered)... but also she tested positive for FIV (aids in cats). This has been a very sad day, indeed. She also had ear mites. Due to her having aids, my hopes of ever taking her in are squashed. I can't afford to have her with my indoor kitties. I don't know if it helps or not, but I wash my hands after visiting with her. She is the sweetest baby. He'll always be a "she" to me :)

• The vet didn't tell me Gray Lady was still really "out of it" when we went to pick her up. She couldn't be left outside in her condition. We had to find an alternative. I set up her box in my garage and layed a blanket down so she could lay down (actually she wobbled and fell down), but she was okay. She had no idea what happened to her. She looked 10 pounds lighter and pretty skinny without all that long matted fur.

• Gray Lady stayed around my house for quite some time after that (she usually hangs around the house across the street). She would sleep in my chair on our front porch. I loved that. I could say goodnight to her and give her a kiss on her head. She'd purrrrrrrr.

• Gray Lady is still eating (usually a good sign). I've been trying to put medicine in her ears each night. That's a tough job and now shes "on to me". I go to feed all the orphans...she runs away a few feet to see if I'm going to squeeze medicine into her ears. What a little stinker.

• Gray Lady was tucked away safely in my garage on Halloween night.

• Gray Lady's fur is growing in quickly...maybe a little too quickly :) I've had to cut off some matted hair. I'm trying to keep up with it as she was really in bad shape before she got shaved down!

• Well, our wonderful neighbors across the street have moved. This is where Gray Lady could usually be found. She would sleep under their kitchen window. I feel so sorry for her. She doesn't know what's going on. The neighbors were very nice to her and I think she really misses them. I hope the new neighbors are nice to her as well. I have been leaving the garage door cracked even during the day for this period of time so Gray Lady has a little retreat. This morning she was sleeping on a little chair in the garage when I left for work. She wasn't eating very well, but she really started to eat this morning! Batten down the hatches!

• Well, a little Angel moved in across the street. Elizabeth has a great love for animals and she has helped Gray Lady so much! She also brought her to the vet and even kept Gray Lady inside her house for some time to try to get her back on her feet. Elizabeth has an extra room where Gray Lady can stay (safely away from all the other pets :). It seems Gray Lady has a little hole in one of her ears - not sure if it's from a fight or from scratching herself so much. It will never be the same....but she still seems to be doing a lot better. I am concerned with the weather turning cold here.

• It's over. My special girl is now just crossing Rainbow Bridge. You were ALWAYS an Angel to Me! How I wished I could have had you from the start before you were sick. I could have brought you inside with the rest of the Mahr kitty family and REALLY spoiled you like I always wanted to do.