HOMAGE TO STEFFI - A CHRISTMAS STORY

This homage (the Spanish version) was put up in the place where Steffi was found in Terrassa.

STEFFI ¿? - 30 October 2009

In December 2006 Steffi was found in a park in Terrassa, in skin and bone, almost dead.  She was begging with nuzzles to be
rescued and she was.  Abandoned?  Lost?, we don't know, but once a house cat?  Without doubt.  It seems she'd been quite some time in the street.  Her ear carried the mark of a castrated street cat.  She was old.  She had an airgun pellet stuck in her spine.  She'd clearly had a hard life.

She was taken to a vet's in Barcelona.  It was thought she was going to die, but no, she had a will to live.  She stayed in the vet's for a month till a foster home was found.  A foster home that had 5 other cats.

A little after bringing her to his house her carer had to go to work.  He left her in a basket beneath a table in the corner of the lounge.  When he returned, she hadn't moved from the basket.  She was lying in her own filth, full of urine and faeces.  It seemed she was very afraid of other cats.  After a few days she ended up living in an open cat carrier on the small balcony.  There she stayed for almost a whole year.  She would often hit her carer if he tried to stroke her, she would always hit the other cats if they came near.  In Spanish 'to hit' is 'pegar'.  She was nicknamed 'Peggy'.

Round about the middle of December 2007, Steffi/'Peggy' started to sit on the sofa by the sofa her owner would crash out on.  On Christmas Day, all of a sudden, Steffi got up and planted herself on her carer's chest and started purring her head off.  From that moment on it was total love between the two - although she remained 'Peggy' with the rest of the cats!

Since her rescue Steffi never lost her look of 'living dead'.  She didn't fatten up much.  It's thought she behaved 'Peggy' so that the other cats wouldn't discover her vulnerability.  Quite a few times it was necessary to take her to the vet where she had stayed, visits realised at 'Steffi price'.

In October 2009 Steffi suffered two serious slumps.  The first time she had to stay at the vet's for 3 days.  The blood analysis was normal.  She was being overcome by old age.  The miracle of her survival was fading.  After the second slump she stopped eating.  There was no option but to end her life to stop her suffering.

As much as Steffi had led a hard life, at least her last years were happy, lived with a lot of love, both received and given.  Her carer considers her a gift from God.  He says:  "In a fallen world, love does our lives good so we can do good with our lives.  I hope the Lord may deem that I was worthy of Steffi's love".

Wishing you all a very Happy Christmas.