NEMO SAYS:

Hi, my name is Nemo. Occasionally I’m called by my middle name No No Bad Cat but I go by Nemo mostly. As many once-stray cats, I’ve had quite a few lives and names that are lost in memory. What I’m about to tell you is My Life As Nemo.

Susie and Mike adopted me from the Vancouver SPCA on December 4th, 2005. They said the humans staff there highly recommended “Fabulous boy” (my name at the SPCA) when they asked for a sweet, affectionate cat. I was sleeping in my Hide And Perch box when they walked in. Next thing I knew I was already in Mike’s arm. I remember thinking to myself: “Hey I like this guy.” Then it was Susie’s turn to hold me. She sat down on a chair and put me on her lap. She was as soft and warm as Mike and I felt at home already. I started head-bunting her, which, I think, convinced them that I was the one.

They came to pick me up first thing in the morning next day. When I got out of the box I became Nemo. I finally found a place where I could call home.

After seeing a nice lady named “Dr.Liz “, they found out that I had something called FIV. My life has not been the same since.

SUSIE SAYS:

Name: Nemo
Nicknames: no no bad cat, crazy cat, little bugger, sweety…(the rest is censored out)
Breed: Mixed breed, brown/black Tabby
Age: anywhere from 3 to 11
Sex: Male
Weight: Dec 10^th , 2005”14lb 12oz, March 30, 2006”13lb 5oz
Home: Vancouver, BC, Canada
Dwells: Strictly indoors (until we figure out how to take him out safely)
Character: Nemo is VERY attached to people. He loves attention (most of the time) but he doesn’t demand it. If he doesn’t get his way he’d just wait quietly by the side. As Dr.Liz says, he is a very GOOD cat.

I understand by saying so I might offend many cat fans out there, but Nemo was supposed to be a dog. Mike and I are the biggest dog persons in the world. Imagine Mike and me in Paris, walking towards the biggest landmark of the city, arguably the most famous in the world, Mike said: “There’s Eiffel Tower!” but I said: “Look! There’s a dog!” We wanted to have a dog but knowing that we were unable to devote our time to raise a puppy/dog, we decided to adopt a cat. We had a very specific type of cat in mind:”an independent adult cat that is as affectionate as a dog. As impossible as it may seem, we must have done something right in our past lives to have such good karma” we found Nemo!

Not only had I specific characteristics in mind, I was also looking for a specific look ”I like big, heavy cat with a big face. At Vancouver SPCA, Mike spotted this sleepy cat in the crate. His body was so big that he looked stuck in the hide-and-perch box! Only his big, wide face was hanging outside the box. We talked to the staff about what we were looking for. They pointed at the same cat Mike had in mind. They said: “This guy is as sweet as they come!” We woke him up and brought him out of the crate. He started investigating the room, rubbing every leg on his way. Mike picked him up and put him in my arm. I went: “Holy cow! You’re heavy!” He started head-bunting me, marking me as his. We were sold right there right then.

Before going to the adoption centre I prepared myself with lots of “introducing a cat to the family” information. I knew we were headed for a difficult period which could possibly last for days. We let Nemo out of the box after setting up all his necessities. He headed straight for the gap between the washing machine and the wall but I stopped him. He started sniffing around and found himself a good hiding place underneath the stairs. I said to Mike: “Let’s go. Let’s leave him alone. We should let him come to us.” Before we could step out of the room Nemo was out of his corner already! Apparently that’s all the hiding he needed. He started hanging out and rubbing against us. I introduced him to his litter box and perch box/scratching post. After a while Mike and I went out to buy a Christmas tree. We closed the door between downstairs and upstairs, leaving Nemo downstairs. When we came back an hour later, Nemo was laying by the door waiting for us! I never knew that a cat could be so “dog-like”! We examined the room downstairs. He didn’t jump onto any counter, squeezed into any place he wasn’t supposed to, scratched any furniture, or peed/pooped anywhere. He probably waited for us by the door the whole time! The “difficult period” officially lasted for about 5 minutes. We’ve never had any trouble with Nemo since.

On the second day we took Nemo for a wellness check at a vet nearby. Nemo got a clean bill of health except for his bad teeth and gum. The vet couldn’t tell us how old he was or anything else. We weren’t very happy with the result so we made an appointment for another wellness check at an all-cat clinic All About Cats . The difference between All About Cats and the previous one was night-and-day. Dr. Liz and all her staff were very nice. Nemo seemed to be quite relaxed with the people there. Dr. Liz told us that Nemo must have been on the streets for a long time. He had lots of chips on his teeth, which was a result from fighting with other cats. His chubby cheeks also suggested that he was recently neutered. Because he has been a stray, other than routine vaccine shots Dr. Liz also checked him for FIV.

The following 3 weeks was full of medical problems for Nemo. He reacted to vaccines with high fever and dehydration. He also had a mysterious minor seizure on the next day of our Christmas party. Dr. Liz performed a string of tests on him but couldn’t find the cause. The only sure thing we found at the time was that Nemo was FIV positive.

We asked around but no insurance company would cover FIV cats. Seeing that we spent so much money and time in such a short time since the adoption, Dr. Liz said to us that she was sorry we weren’t blessed with a healthy cat. But the fact is, I don’t want a “healthy cat”. No “healthy cat” in the world can replace the one that traveled through the city and spent nights on the dangerous streets to have finally found you to be his best friend for the rest of his life. No I didn’t want a “healthy cat”. I wanted Nemo to be healthy.

Our battle with FIV began from the day Nemo, Mike and I walked out of Dr. Liz’s office on January 4^th of 2006, exactly 1 month after Nemo’s adoption day.

Click on the links under “Pages” on the right to see other things about Nemo.