Nessie was the culmination of 25 years of my work with the Turkish Angora breed, and the best show cat I ever produced, until then. She was very much in love with me, and I with her. She was a spunky and confident little kitten, and doted on me from an early age.

She was the boss-cat of the household. She was a great show cat, although she did not like to see the other cats in the showhall. She went on to be a superb mother, although once she weaned her kittens, she did not want them around for awhile afterwards. Every mother needs a break!

Nessie was a Regional Winner, a National Breed Winner, and a Supreme Grand Champion. Along with her first litter of five pet kittens, she is the mother of Jake, Gracie, Archie, Tessie and August - four litters of beautiful kittens in all. She reigned as top queen in the house during her mom-cat years. She always wanted into the bedroom at night, and would look under the door.

When Nessie turned six years old, she began to raise her fourth litter. I was looking forward to spaying her and having her as a lifelong companion. But sadly, she developed what may have been a vaccine - related cancer in her shoulder while raising her last litter. We tried the Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital for treatment, but they were unable to save her. During her illness, we had to separate her from her kittens, which were 8 weeks old at the time. She wore a special jacket to protect the tumor on her shoulder. The kittens were 12 weeks old when she lost her fight.

I had little time to grieve this loss however, because her kittens needed special care, as they were aware their mother was gone. The kittens clung to Phoebe as a surrogate for a couple of weeks, as she loves kittens, but they ultimately made friends with my husband's puppy, Hope.

I will not be able to show Tess or Gus because of the pandemic, so we may skip a generation for that. It has been a sad time here in 2019 and 2020, with the loss of Nessie then my mother, and then the loss of Amy in 2020. Cancer and dementia both suck!