In October of 1995, I moved back to Hamilton from Iqaluit, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut), and my sister and I rented a house and decided to get a cat.  In November, we got Eli, who was then named Dooley, from a wonderful woman named Dorothy at Animal Welfare Association.  I fell in love with him on sight.

He is a very strange cat, full of personality, and he loves to be up high.  This picture was taken when he jumped from the floor onto the top of the bathroom door.  He had springs for legs.  He was probably about 1 or 2 years old in this picture.  Silly didn't even begin to decribe his nature!

My sister and I had a few kittens pass through our door those years, and Eli was always like a mommy to them, even though he was a neutered male.  He would pin them down and lick them.  He had atrocious breath, and we nicknamed him "Hal" short for halitosis!  Sometimes we quipped that we got the other cats so that Eli would have someone to lick besides us, seeing as his breath was so bad!  HA!

Over the years, I moved around, and Eli always came with me.  He has always been there for me, year after year.  Eli lost about half his teeth in 2001 due to gum disease and rotten teeth.  He is scheduled to have the remaining teeth pulled this coming week.  He has been plagued by bad teeth all his life (kind of like me, his meowmie!)  At least he won't have bad breath anymore!  He will be spoiled rotten with his favourite foods, and I got him a 5 foot kitty condo to play in.  He's mostly a good-natured cat, and I hope he will bounce back to health after the surgery.

Eli will be nine in January of 2004, and I just can't imagine life without him.  I think back to that day I met Dorothy up at Gagemount Animal Hospital, and Eli came into my life.  I can't thank you guys enough.

Jo Pavlov

Update:

Eli had almost all of his teeth pulled on Dec 16th.  They left his fangs and a few of the baby teeth up front, so I call him my little hillbilly now.  Ha!  But all of his rear teeth are gone; top and bottom, both sides.  He's doing remarkably well... I thought he would be on a canned diet for the rest of his life, but he's gumming his way through Science Diet Senior, and he's happier and healthier than he's ever been.  He's always been a very affectionate unique cat, and now I just can't believe the change in his personality -- he's even more affectionate, and goofier, if that was at all possible!  He likes to be hand fed soft kitty treats (broken into small no-chew pieces) and he's still a licker, but thankfully his breath doesn't stink at all anymore!!

I also got him (and his 'brother', Stanley) a five foot kitty condo, and this has probably been the most fun 'toy' since I got him.  The top shelf is hot property, and they fight over it constantly.  Eli always seems to be the winner.  He could sit there all day looking out the window, and he does.  Stanley gets relegated to the middle shelf, but it's still at window height, so everyone is happy.

I really can't thank you guys enough for the hard work you do.  Thank you so much for bringing Eli into my life!!