"I was born on the concrete pavement of a junkyard in downtown Pomona almost four months ago. I had a family and many friends, because a cat colony lived in the fenced yard. A man came by sometimes to leave food and water. No one else could get in.

"As I got older, my mother disappeared and my littermates died or went away. One of my kitten friends got hit by a car.

"I still had playmates, but I also liked to watch people walking by on the sidewalks, which the other kitties mostly didn't do. Some of the people would stop and talk to me. Sometimes I would go through the little hole in the fence to visit one of them.

"Then about three months after I was born, almost everyone in the colony started getting sick. Their eyes got runny. Some of them sneezed and coughed. They were very sick. They started to die.

"I got sick. I sneezed, My left eye got so sore, I rubbed it and rubbed it. The human who petted me said I was crying blood. She seemed very upset. She went away and came back with a carrier. I came through the fence for pets. She put me in the carrier and brought me to a vet.

"That was very mean. The vet poked and prodded me and said I didn't have an ulcerated cornea. She said I did have conjunctivitis and a viral infection and fleas. She said I didn't have a chip, whatever that is, and probably wasn't spayed, whatever that is. She gave me a dewormer--I don't want to say any more about that. She put flea medicine between my shoulder blades and gave the humans stuff to put in my eyes and ears and down my throat. That went on forever--a whole week!

"The vet said I SNAP tested negative. Humans say the weirdest things.

"The vet also said my virus is systemic, so I'll always be a little sneezy and need feline lysine every day. That means I can't be with cats who don't have this, but I hope I'll find a forever home with cats who share my condition. I am very friendly with other cats and miss my colony friends.

"Despite the medicine and vet, I feel much better now. I run all over my room and play with my toys. I claw and attack the scratching post. Sometimes I attack the human's arm and hand because I want a playmate and she'll play pretend-kitten with her hand.

"I want to stay with the humans who took me in, but they're in a shared living situation and it's complicated, and I can't stay.

"I dictated to the humans to help me find my forever family. Is that with you?"

To adopt, foster, or rescue Xena, contact Cindy 206-619-9164, market.maven.subscriptions@gmail.com .

Adoption fee is waived for fosters and rescues. Xena must find a home before October 2019!

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