Early one chilly September morning in 2010 I heard what sounded like a kitten crying while I was getting out of the car at the local YMCA. When I heard it again I followed the sound to a pickup in the parking lot. A small gray kitten came out from behind the right rear tire, ran right to me when I spoke to her, and snuggled against me when I picked her up. The gym forgotten, I got back into the car and drove home with the hard purring kitten draped across the back of my neck. My wife was surprised by my quick return and was delighted with the little gray fur ball. We had her checked out by our vet who pronounced her healthy and about three months old. Based upon her socialization and relatively good health we thought she may have been lost so we checked around our small town for any evidence of anyone looking for a lost gray kitten. We found none and no one came to the Y looking for her so she joined our family. We named her Ayashi (Little One) and she quickly settled in with our other four rescued cats. The darker gray spots that covered her as a baby faded over time as she developed tabby striping, faint traces of tortie showed up on her front legs, and the darker rings on her tail became more pronounced. She was the fearless protector of everyone in the house as a youngster, and has now grown into a loving, funny mama’s girl with penchant for overeating and a personality as soft as her fur. She spends most nights on the bed beside mama and is almost always the first to the kitchen for breakfast, and she starts reminding us that dinner time is approaching well before it’s time to eat. In the past few months she developed a corneal sequestrum in her right eye that we and our vet are monitoring, but she remains her loving, silly self.

Wayne & Sandra
Brevard, NC