Aspen the "Tabby" Foster Cat

W

e are not sure of her breed; possibly a Tabby. She is Aspen. She is very pretty, white as snow, a long haired beauty!

Aspen was our foster baby. She stayed with us for over one year. Through some difficult times, we took Aspen in while her owner (daughter-in-law) and family were relocating. The story from Tammy, my daughter-in-law, was told to me and goes something like this:

"Well, I got her approximately 10-12 years ago. A friend gave her to me for my birthday. I named her Aspen after the Aspen Mountains with all the white snow. She is considered a "white Tabby". She was one of two in a litter and had a brother. They looked identical except when I went to pick her brother up, he hissed and scratched me. Aspen just sat there and purred. She originally had one spot of very light orange on the top of her head that disappeared as she got older. I have been told, most pure white cats like Aspen are likely to become deaf, why I don't know, but the vet said that since she is a true Tabby that it would not happen.

I got her when she was said to be 9 weeks old, but she was not completely weened from her mom. I had to feed her with a bottle and when she slept she would sleep on my neck and try to suckle on my ear, so I quickly replaced that with a blanket that had cords at the end, which I had gotten from Mexico. To this day, she at times will still suckle on a blanket. It was like my first experience with being a mom. I had to feed her every 2-3 hours and take her to the litter box and move her paw like she was scratching at the litter, so that she would learn to use it. I did most of the things that her mom would have taught her.

I bathed her a lot when she was a kitten, and she never seemed to have a problem with it as long as I was the one doing it. Once she got older, the baths got less frequent as her nails got longer. She had a problem with scratching and ruining furniture, so when my cousin had her she had her claws removed, front and back.

I am not sure why she is so big other than the fact that Tabby's tend to get very large. Just the breed I guess. I also think she may have a glandular problem, but that has not been confirmed by a vet."

When, there is the story. My experience is that she is very loving and most of the time she would just try to finds ways to get you to pet her. In any case, it was a wonderful experience having Aspen as a foster pet. Thanks!

UPDATE Sept. 2010: Aspen is back with her family, these days. In fact we all are together as one happy family in Utah. She seems to be happy to be back with her adopted brother, Buddy.