Simon Becomes Shiraz

~by Cindy, Shiraz's Certain Human

It really doesn’t matter what happened up until that point.

Maybe he lived in a barn, where he had to fend for himself...

Maybe he was somebody’s neglected or – even worse – abused pet...

Maybe he was thrown away as a kitten, but managed to survive...

MAYbe, he was a feline warrior, back from saving the world only to find nobody cared...

MAYBE, he was an ancient deity, returned to an earthly body...

MAYBE, HE WAS AN INTERGALACTIC TIME TRAVELLER, WHO HAD COME TO...but none of that matters.


What does matter, is that he found himself, on exactly the right winter morning in late 2012, in exactly the right driveway of exactly the right house, where exactly the right humans lived. They brought him into their warmth, fed him, pet him, talked in kind voices, and admired his extra-large cheeks and crazy mixed up markings, as though he was cobbled together from remnants left over from other cats.

Truth is, he wasn’t very lovable then – bloated and gassy from eating who-knows-what, greasy, smelly, gunked-up tail, itchy skin from flea bites, out-of-control peeing, hormones on a rampage...

They took him to the vet – which was kind of scary, because that first vet told Exactly-the-Right-Humans to put him out of his misery right away. Obviously he was exactly the wrong vet. They went to a different vet, and slowly he began to feel better. He was cleaned up, snipped, poked, shaved, poked some more, dewormed, poked even more, named Simon and pronounced diabetic.

Determined to give him a chance, the humans contacted other humans who have an organization to help diabetic cats like him. It’s called Diabetic Cats in Need, or DCIN. DCIN sent supplies and gave advice, and after two weeks of insulin shots and a proper feline diet, he went into remission.

As it turned out, even though Simon found the exactly-right situation to be saved, it was not the exactly-right home for him to live in forever. There were already six cats, a couple that were quite old. He wanted to play, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. So he had to live downstairs in a little room. Safe, warm, loved, fed, but confined for the sake of the other cats.

The humans began to look for a home for Simon. He was photographed, described, posted, promoted, featured… Many people loved him from afar, a few wrote in with questions about him, but nobody offered him a home.

A few months passed, and spring announced itself with great fanfare. Simon could feel it, but he was still in his room downstairs in the no-longer-exactly-right house.

One day, the humans were all excited, and told Simon he was getting a visitor that afternoon. At the appointed time, in walked a new human. Simon, pulling out all his tricks, climbed onto her chest, purred loudly into her ear and gave her a facial. “I’ll take him home right now, if it’s okay”, offered the new human. “You know,” she said to Simon, “it kind of looks like someone spilled a bottle of wine on you. I think your name should be Shiraz.”

Shiraz interviews Butt of Bluegrass
in his popular
"Interviews from the Chairtop" series.

And so it came to pass: Shiraz was home at last. He has two feline companions, Maurice and Bluegrass, and one human, with lots of auxiliary humans who come to visit and lavish him with attention. His diabetes continues to be in remission. He likes to play in the yard, but spends most of his time inside, safe, warm, dry and loved.

The End, or perhaps I should say, The Beginning, or maybe The Continuation is most accurate…

Come get to know Shiraz on his Facebook page (don’t forget to like the page!) at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shiraz-The-Cat/226690357477458.