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I was a wreck when my I had to have
my beautiful white Persian cat, PerSe, put down. She lived with
me for 18 years. While I had cats as a child, PerSe was my first
cat as an adult. I knew that I could not be catless, and that I
had to get another cat right away. I knew that I could not get another
Persian because it would remind me too much of my wonderful PerSe.
I decided that I wanted a Maine Coon cat or a Birman. I started
calling breeders who advertised in Cat
Fancy. I know these people must have thought I was a crazy woman,
because I could barely talk for crying. I contacted Sandy Stirling
of CooneyIsle cattery, who was able to grasp what I was trying to
say between sobs and who was sympathetic to my great loss. One of
her queens had recently given birth, but the litter would not be
ready for adoption for 4 months. I needed an immediate cat fix.
I had known about the Birman breed for
many years, and found the Birman
legend charming. I always thought that I would try to adopt
a Birman as my "next cat." I contacted Sandra Britcher
who operated Homeplace Birmans in Airville, PA. Sandra told me that
she had a seal point Birman for immediate adoption. I called an
attorney friend of mine, who also happens to be a cat lover, and
asked if he'd be interested in joining me on a road trip. Since
the trip to PA would involve crossing 3 state lines, I thought it
would be a good idea to take a lawyer along in case I unknowingly
violated the some laws involving the transportation of pussy across
state lines. At Homeplace Birmans, I met "Penelope". She
was sweet and beautiful -- exactly the kind of cat fix I needed.
Sandra explained that "Penelope" was not CFA registerable.
She was trying to breed flame point Birmans and had been crossing
out with Himalayans in her breeding program. "Penelope"
was one generation away from being CFA registerable because of the
Himalayan cross-out. Since I'm in the cat loving business, not the
cat breeding business, this made no difference to me. "Penelope"
looked like the perfect specimen of the Birman breed, with evenly
white tipped paws and lacings on her back legs. She was 10 months
old and was destined to become my first post-PerSe cat.
"Penelope" settled
into life with me immediately. I loved her soft, silky fur. She
was a talkative kitty, pone to climbing on my lap and giving me
kitty kisses. We often talked about her name, which did not quite
seem to fit her. I sounded out many names with her -- Silky, Snow
Mitten -- all of which were met with blank stares. I checked a Burmese
dictionary out of the library and found that panyan and pou were
words for silk. My beautiful Birman was sitting beside me on the
sofa. When I said "panyan" she looked at me with those
beautiful sapphire blue eyes and said "meow". Pou elicited
the same response. Panyan Pou was her name. She knew it all along,
but it took me considerable time and effort to figure it out. When
my veterinarian, Dr. Giles, first met Panyan Pou, she asked if I
called her Pou for short. I replied, "Actually, I call her
The Beautiful Panyan Pou." According to Panyan Pou, she is
the most beautiful kitty on the face of the earth, and quite possibly
the most beautiful kitty of all time. The only nickname she tolerates
is Gorgeous.
Birmans are very expressive, affectionate
cats. While they are not as talkative as the Siamese breed, they
do talk a lot. Anyone who wants a lap cat should give serious consideration
to a Birman. Whenever there is a lap in our household, Panyan Pou
is there! Whether your reading, involved in conversation or watching
TV, if you make a lap she wants to be sitting on it. If there's
something obstructing your lap, she complains loudly until the offending
object is removed from her rightful place. It has gotten to the
point where we refer to Gorgeous as the PITA (pain-in-the-ass) kitty.
Needless to say, this is NOT a nickname she acknowledges.
In our 6-cat household, Gorgeous rules.
She never hissed at or swatted any of the 5 other kitties introduced
into the house. She has always been the first cat to accept a new
kitty, even defending it against other cats in the house. She is
the only kitty who is friends with, and plays with, every kitty
in the house. And she is the only kitty MeCoon likes.
A short time after she came to live
with me, I noticed her somewhat obsessively washing and biting at
her paws. Upon inspection, I say that her paw pads were pink and
tender. During the worst outbreaks, her paw pads would blister and
crack open. I thought she might be having a reaction to a chemical
cleaner I was using, which was a good excuse to stop cleaning. I
took her to Dr. Giles who took a tissue biopsy. The diagnosis came
back as pemphigus. In essence, she is allergic to her own skin.
Dr. Giles offered to refer us to a veterinary dermatologist, but
I declined. The only thing a dermatologist could do for an auto-immune
disease would be to treat the symptoms. There is no cure. Dr. Giles
prescribed Panalog cream, which I massage into the paw pads whenever
Panyan Pou has a severe outbreak. Panalog works very well, but it
contains a steroid and I use it sparingly. At my request, Dr. Giles
also looked into some homeopathic remedies. I found vitamin E oil
massaged into the paw pads to be most helpful. I found that the
most severe outbreaks of pemphigus coincided with loading my cats
onto the airplane with me (they flew with me in the cabin) when
we visited my father. I have not traveled with my cats since my
father's death, and Panyan Pou has not had any serious outbreaks
since then. I try to make certain that she (and all my cats) lead
stress free lives.
When I first learned of the pemphigus,
I notified Panyan Pou's breeder. Sandra was horrified to learn of
the condition, as she prided herself on breeding beautiful healthy
cats. Subsequently, she learned that pemphigus was in a cattery
she had once used for breeding. Sandra was furious. She had to discontinue
breeding the lineage from that cat and notify everyone who purchased
cats from that lineage. When she spoke to the owner of the cattery,
he acted like it was no big deal! Lesson learned: health problems
can invade the catteries of conscientious breeders. If your cat
develops health problems that could be hereditary, it is important
that your share this information with your cat's breeder.
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