Sophie was born on April 24, 1994, in our barn during a severe rainstorm. A stray domestic shorthair gave birth to 8 kittens that night. One kitten died during the night and the other seven survived. I fell for Sophie within the first week. She just stood out from all the other kittens. At the age of six weeks she moved into our house and I found a home for the mother and the other six kittens.

Sophie was an indoor cat and the light of my life. We were pals. When my husband and I would tell her it was time "for nightie" she would run to the bedroom and hop on the bed. She would climb onto my chest and insist on a kitty massage before she would go to sleep. In the mornings I would tell her it was time for us to go put on our make up and she would take off down the hall and jump onto the vanity and sit on the windowsill while I put on my make up. In the evening I would tell her it was time to take off our make up she again would run to the vanity. This was also her time to be groomed and she loved to be brushed.she did not even mind having her teeth brushed.

She ate breakfast with me every morning, sometimes right out of my cereal bowl. At dinner she was either in my lap or lying on the table next to my plate. The only people food she ate was boiled chicken; of course I cooked it for her so she could share dinner with us.

She was diagnosed in April 1998. I had noticed she had lost some weight and appeared to have a lump on each of her sides. When her blood work showed she was in acute renal failure and the vet started an IV to rehydrate her. The vet did x-rays of her kidneys because on palpation they felt so large. At first she thought Sophie had tumors in her kidneys. I remember that night the vet told us Sophie could have tumors in her kidney or she could have a disease called Polycystic Kidney Disease. She said it probably is not PKD. Once we got the ultrasound it confirmed PKD. She has 10 - 12 cysts in each kidney. The month she was diagnosed, I had gotten my computer and found the PKD list. What a great source of information and support the list has been. I cannot imaging going through this without the support of all the kind people on the list. It has been a teaching tool for me and I am forever grateful to you and all the kind people on the list.

My favorite photo of Sophie is the one where she has on her necklace of pearls and silver fishes. She would wear it when we had guest over. She knew how lovely she looked in her necklace. Of course she enjoyed wearing her Christmas necklace also. We have a Victorian style bird-cage for decoration and Sophie thought it was for her. She loved to crawl inside of it and just sit there being all furry and cute.