Our Stray Cat Story...
On September 16, 2000, a beautiful black and white kitten ran into our front door looking for a home. She was flea-bitten and not in very good shape. We already had 4 cats, but she was really cute and despite her condition, we couldn’t just put her back out in the street. An appointment was made with our vet. Dr. Wiles and staff cleaned her up and did the usual blood tests. We found out that she was FeL+ and were very distraught. She had already worked her way into our hearts and we couldn’t bear to just leave her go.
We are from Pittsburgh and Penguin Hockey season ticket holders. We named her LeMew, after our favorite player Mario Lemieux, and made the decision to give her the home she had been seeking. Our beautiful kitten became a very loving cat full of personality and hi-jinx.
A few years earlier, we had another stray kitten that went to Mom and Dad. He was named K.C. (found in a restaurant’s kitchen and named Kitchen Cat – shortened to K.C.). Just before K.C.’s fifth birthday, he quit eating and became very ill. Tragically, he was put to sleep on September 6, 2001. On the same day, our precious LeMew started having trouble breathing. A trip to the vet yielded our worst fears. Fluid in her lungs being caused by tumors related to the Feline Leukemia. We took her home one last time. She was put to sleep on September 10, 2001.
We had decided earlier to start a candle business. When we first started making candles and were perfecting the process, our little LeMew used to sit right on a kitchen stool observing and monitoring each batch of candles. She was an essential part of the candle making right up until the time she became ill. With the loss of our 2 loving stray cats, we decided to dedicate the business to keeping their memories alive. Thus was born “Stray Cat Candles.”
We will be looking for other “stray cat” stories from you that we can post on this web site. We are looking to not only meet and chat with other candle makers, but to relate our wonderful cat stories as well. We hope to hear from each and everyone of you.
