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The Story
of “T” (GRC GRP NW STARSHIP’S MAGIC FIRE)
“T” was born the evening of
March 1, 1988. She was a “hot” tortie, not even the pick of the three kitten
litter. She was placed into my hands by the vet attendant, eager for me to get
her going as she was a c section kitten. As I toweled her dry I saw her face
and instantly exclaimed her as the best kitten I had ever bred, but then I
looked tentatively over at her smaller sister, barely breathing, being toweled
by the attendant, and saw a superstar.
As the kittens grew, those were happy days at my
house. Another litter had been born on the same day as hers, which had a
beautiful brown mackerel tabby kitten in it. I began to tick the days away on
the calendar imagining the day when all of these kittens would attend their
first show. The kittens continued to do well and excitement filled the air. I
began to look for a good show home for that hot little tortie kitten, as the
superstar and the brown mackerel kitten were going nowhere.
Sometime around the age of three months, one of those
aggravating little respiratories went through house. All the kittens shook it
off with ease, with the exception of the little superstar. It just hung on with
her, and finally it seemed like a trip to the vet was definitely going to be
necessary, as she suddenly went off of her food. Things happened so quickly. My
vet wanted to take x-rays. He couldn’t figure out what was going on with her and
why she was having trouble breathing. He gave her something to knock her out to
make it easier to x-ray her….it was the last time she would take a breath.
Horrified, the vet began frantically trying to resuscitate her. I watched
helplessly, thinking that it all had been too good to be true…how could this
happen? And she was such a doll, the perfect loving temperament….the vet worked
to no avail…she was gone. Frantically looking for the reason this happened, he
x-rayed the kitten and found that she had one abnormal lung ½ the size of the
other.
As if someone waved a magic wand, the feisty little
“hot” tortie began to work at being really affectionate. By the time of the
kittens’ first show she had wormed her way into my heart. I named her Magic Fire
for the Magic Fire music in the Wagner opera Die Walkure. The name “T”, short
for tortie, stuck as her call name forever. Impy, the brown mackerel female
kitten, was the star of our club’s show. She made two finals at four months of
age. The gawky little tortie, however, caught the eye of Walter Hutzler, who
proclaimed her, after long deliberation, his 11th best kitten. As the
weeks past, the brown mackerel tabby kitten continued to do better and better,
but the tortie, no longer so “hot” as her undercoat grew in, was catching
judges’ eyes too.
About July, Bob Salisbury and his wife contacted us,
having heard about the brown mackerel tabby “Impy” and interested in whether we
would sell her. We decided that that was an excellent idea, putting one kitten
on the west coast and the other on the east coast.
The brown mackerel tabby kitten continued to due very.
very well. (Starship’s Impossible Dream went on to be CFA’s 15th
highest scoring kitten national that year as well as SWR 3rd Best
Kitten.) Meanwhile, now on her own and loosing all her gawkiness, the tortie
began to blossom, and started making five and six finals, instead of one or two.
She qualified for CFA’s first Purina Invitational with 5 out of 6 kitten
finals. She made finals as an open and then picked up 56 points in her first
show out as a champion. She was to go to the Invitational the next week as a
champion. Much to our eternal gratitude and joy, she finaled as a champion in
all six rings, making 255 Grand points at that show alone to Grand in two shows!
 We never planned to show “T” past her Grand. But she
showed no signs of coming into season, and December turned to January and we got
to thinking about showing her a couple times for fun. The very first show we
took her to, she ran head long into Jovan’s Buster Brown, being shown as an
Open. As good a cat as she was, a small compact female was just no match for
this large, big boned boy. I guess that lit a fire under me, because I entered
her in every show I could get her to that I wouldn’t run into that big guy. When
all was said and done, out of the same region as Buster Brown who made 20th
Best Cat National that year, in only 82 adult rings she was Second Best Exotic
National and 14th Best Cat as well as 11th Best Kitten in
the North Atlantic Region.
I guess I always had a feeling that she would not be
destined for motherhood. That fall, an emergency c section revealed that she
would have to be spayed right there and then on the operating table due to
bleeding. I was relieved. I did not want her to go through this again….she had
become the light of my life.
As she started the long road to recuperation (the
surgery had really taken a lot out of her), I began to think about the future.
Was it possible? Should I dare think about trying for a National win in
Premiership?
It was several months after her operation, and she
still had not quite gotten to the health and vigor of her Championship days. I
checked the show schedule and hoped to bring her out in
March.
The day arrived, she was back in shape and the judging
slate was a good one, made up of Judges who were her fans since her kitten days.
She finaled as an open across the board, and after a couple rings, began to take
everything in stride like she had in the past. She then attended Chesapeake CC,
always a big end of the year campaigner’s show. Under an exotic that made Best
Cat in Premiership National that year, she made five out of six finals and
granded in one show.
That next year was a whirlwind tour of the country
during which she and I made many friends in the cat fancy. After making six
finals at the Qualifier, she went to the Invitational and earned Best Exotic in
Premiership as well as 9th Best Cat in Premiership, one of only 3
longhairs in the top ten. At the end of the year she was Best Cat in
Premiership in the North Atlantic Region and 4th Best Cat National.
By the end of that show season she was only 3 years
old, with her whole life ahead of her. She and I shared many adventures, and saw
the arrival of many more kittens. She was with me when my first marriage ended,
when I moved to a temporary living arrangement and then when I finally found my
new home in South Carolina.
She was there when I met my second husband and beside me through many ups and
downs. She adopted my new step son and started him on a lifetime love affair
with cats. She surprised us all by actually catching mice in the house and
presenting my husband with one at bedside and we began to ask ourselves, WHAT
NEXT? She became the Captain of the “Magic Fire”, our pontoon boat named after
her, and enjoyed her new status as cabin cat when we traveled around the lake. I
remember one time pulling up to a shaded bank and to our surprise she popped off
of the bow and straight into ankle deep water, striding on the shore like
Christopher Columbus discovering the New World.
Then, a near tragedy struck as one night, at the
tender age of 14 years, with her hearing almost gone, she decided that a
portable screen with Velcro hinges that covered our back door to let in fresh
night air was no match for her ingenuity and decided to take a jaunt, outside in
the dark in the rural woods where in her whole life her footsteps had never
tread. Unattended dogs, coyotes and bobcats were constantly afoot in that area.
By the time she had snuck out we already were in bed, and did not notice her
missing till 3:30am the
following morning, when we noticed the gap that she had made in the screen. By
actions that I can only attribute to being a MIRACLE, two “good ole boys” found
her toddling down the dirt road at about 11:30pm that night. They saw her
“pushed in” face in their headlights and thought she had been injured, (!) so
they picked her up and took her home. While we frantically looked for her the
following day, one of the men’s family continued to spoil her as if they too
knew she was special. That evening, when we posted MISSING signs with pictures
of her, they called us immediately. “Are you the person missing a cat?” “YES!”
and then “Does she have a really flat face?” There are no words to describe
going from absolute devastation to absolute joy in five seconds. Again, an
extraordinary miracle!!!
At 15 years of age in 2003, Cotton States show held
its Golden Oldies celebration, which happens once every 5 years. I decided,
since “T” didn’t look a day over 5 that she should attend. What a wonderful time
we both had! I will always remember Lois Jensen’s words when she bade the
audience to take a good look at her, because she was a cat WAY ahead of her
time. Both Lois and I had tears in our eyes when she handed her back to me. It’s
moments like that I will always keep in my heart.
As the months passed, she stood by my side and got me
through another divorce and the loss of my job. She was always and forever the
bright and shining light during days of darkness and despair.
Unfortunately, time goes by, and we wish we could stop
the clock and live in those moments with no fear of the inevitable. We held a
17 year Birthday Party this year for T at the Atlanta Phoenix show with the help
of Gail Ogden and my
longtime cattery partner and best friend, Barbara Leffler. After April, “T”
really began to show her age. She lost weight and just seemed to be slowing
down. By the beginning of August, I just knew that things were not right. Tests
revealed anemia but strong kidneys and liver. I know that my vet suspected
lymphoma, but I did not want to hear. “T” responded favorably to potassium
supplements, but it was not enough. A few weeks later she had two seizures at
which each time I thought I was going to loose her right then and there but she
perked back up each time after a few moments. As my cattery partner stayed home
to watch her for me, I drove to Central Carolina cat fanciers show Saturday
morning September 17th. An hour later I received a frantic phone call
that I should return home….”T” had had a very bad seizure that morning. True
friend that she is, Jean Dugger took over showing my kitten for the rest of the
day.
“T” was so relieved to see me back home. We spent a
great evening and wonderful day on Sunday together. She was scheduled for a vet
visit on Monday, and seemed to be doing just fine except for the obvious. When
she got to the vet however, she seemed to go straight down hill and was I forced
to make that most dreaded of all decisions.
The love of my life left me on
September 19th 2005
at 11:30am, a beautiful bright shiny early fall day. To everyone that remembers
her, all the people who have written to me to express their sympathy and love,
and to all the judges who loved her, I thank you. She will never be replaced. I
know that all of you out there in the cat fancy have a similar story that you
can tell. As cat lovers we all have to live with the fact that most of us will
outlive our best friends. I look forward to the day I will meet “T” across the
Rainbow
Bridge, where
we can continue our love affair forever.
Donna Wilbanks
Starship/Starbourne Exotics |
