What a beautiful bundle of baby boy joy Khepra was!!! I bought him home two days before his 14-week birthday. He was absolutely adorable and charming; I was head-over-heels in love with him immediately! His name is Egyptian meaning "he who becomes", i.e., referring to resurrection, reincarnation, rebirth, healing, new beginning, miracles, compassion.

I was going to fly to NYC to meet Khepra and bring him home. Being the middle of Winter, the previous weekend had provided a huge, nasty snowstorm; I was checking the weather forecast daily regarding our weekend. As Fate would have it, we were blessed with perfectly clear skies and manageable temperatures! I arrived at La Guardia around 7:45 a.m. whereupon Lynne (Khepra's breeder) picked me up, we grabbed some bagels, and then headed back to her home. I was SO anxious and absolutely beyond excited! <LOL> I had been researching lines of Oriental Shorthairs for months before deciding upon the litter Khepra came from.

The kittens were all a little hesitant to come up to me - The Stranger - but within a short while, they were playing with tempting toys and being 'tricked' into jumping on my lap when chasing those toys. I didn't have to leave until 2:15 p.m. so Khepra and I had plenty of time to become better acquainted. When it came time to go, I daubed a bit of Rescue Remedy upon his ears, placed him in his comfy little carrier (filled with warm, soft polar fleece blankies), and then wrapped the carrier in a small baby quilt (attached to the carrier with velcro strips to avoid drafts); he was immediately quiet and calm, and stayed that way the entire trip home. Another bit of luck was that our flight home (another prop) was only half full so I was able to put his carrier in the seat next to me (seat belt securing it) so that I could check on him easily and it was warmer than the floor. Upon arriving home, I brought him up to my Study (cleaned from top to bottom) where he would be secluded from the other cats for about a week while every adjusted. There was a very slight, short time when he was first out that he was nervous of the surroundings - and me again - but that passed and we began to bond. By the time we went to bed (on the futon in the Study) wherein he lay curled into the crook of my arm all night, he had eaten food, drank water, and done his 'business' in the litter box...plus had played for a while! We also discovered that Lynne was very truthful in that Khepra has a very loud and raspy voice that he uses a LOT -- which Ron and I both adore! <LOL> Further, he also has a nice, loud purr! He's absolutely delightful!!! By Sunday, he was curled up sleeping on my lap whenever he started to tire, purred like a little motorboat, played with enthusiasm, and called LOUDLY whenever I left the room.

He was truly a perfect and totally wonderful kitten! What follows are some excerpts from a diary I kept...

    Feb 1, 05 - Well, he's only been with us a couple days and already he has some nicknames. The first one is Mini-Mo; actually, we came up with that one a few weeks ago since he's an Ebony like Imhotep (who we call Mo for short) and to make Mo feel like he wasn't being replaced, we keep telling him that Khepra is his little "Mini-Mo". <wink> My nickname for Khepra, though, is Sugar-Britches! LOL Don't ask me where, how or why I came up with that but I did and it just seems to suit him.

    Feb 19, 05 - Khepra has settled into the household completely now and is fully integrated as part of our family! He's absolutely delightful! He and Navarre are Best Buds (much to my surprise as I wasn't sure Navarre would take to him, but apparently having someone to race up and down the stairs with is a big benefit in Navarre's mind) and Imhotep has finally accepted Khepra as well; they now snuggle together and play together and both sleep peacefully (most of the time unless Khepra decides to have a midnight wrestle! eek!) under the covers with me at night. Together, they are affectionately referred to as "The Ebony Bobos".

    Mar 17, 05 - What a dream kitten!!! Khepra is fabulous and we have a wonderful time together; I think it's safe to say that we adore each other. <big smile> He is now a 'retriever extraordinaire' with Mr. Squiggles (homemade toy); one of his favorite games is for me to toss Mr. Squiggles down the stairs, then Khepra races after it and carries it back up to me. It's funny to watch because the toy is very long and it streams down between and behind Khepra's legs so he has to straddle it to carry it! LOL Along with Imhotep, Khepra adores sunbathing in the Study when the sun shines through the skylight. I put a comforter on the hardwood floor as a 'rug' for them; Khepra will roll around on it in the sunshine and then snuggle under a warmed edge that is directly in the light's rays. Most of the time, he cleans his bowl at all 4 meals which is at least 6 oz of canned food per day not to mention the extra food and treats he gets. For canned, he eats Wellness Chicken, Nature's Variety Duck (sometimes Rabbit), and Nutro Kitten Turkey & Giblets, along with fresh cooked chicken or beef bits, freeze-dried Nature's Variety Lamb, and California Natural or Royal Canin Siamese 38 kibble treats (only a few kibbles per day though as I want to keep this at a minimum). He's very active, or I should say he's either busy or asleep - there's not much in between! LOL He discovered the shredded newspaper that I use for the Cavy cage, so loves to go to the basement and drag those strips upstairs to play with. He enjoys interactive games with Da'Bird, the Cat Dancer (which I call Da'Bug), and other wand toys. He also likes wrestling with Navarre or Imhotep. He's a breathtakingly handsome fella with his long slinky body, gorgeous wedge head and large ears, whippy tail and his glistening, satiny ebony coat.

    Apr 6, 05 - He passed the 5 pound mark and looks awesome! What a great kitten he is! He's not nearly as vocal as Imhotep, however, which may be a good thing. <wink> Khepra does get a bit possessive of my lap at times; he'll reach out and gently tap another cat on the nose if they want to lay on my lap or sometimes just wrestle with them. Poor little guy, though, seems to be having very slow dentition as his canines haven't erupted yet. This does make him a little irritable at times; and he'll sometimes grab my forearm and try to bite but his bite is inhibited and he understands to let go when I 'yelp'. <smile>

    Jun 3, 05 - He's a saucy fella these days and when he wants attention he simply will not give up. ;-) He will pace back and forth in front of my computer monitor, rubbing against it and glancing at me to see if I'm watching, and he'll continue until I pick him up and snuggle him! Wicked cute. He adores the Catio so learned very rapidly how to use the cat-flap to get in and out on his own. In spite of having the short, flat Oriental coat, he still enjoys going out even in fifty degree weather for a few minutes to get fresh air. He also loves to go out and snag a long blade of grass, then drag it back into the house to play with; the only problem with that is eventually one of the other cats sees what Khepra has and steals it and then EATS it! Poor Khepra! The look on his face then is truly pathetic. The only negative side effect to his Terrible Teething is that he developed an extremely strong aversion to all the canned cat foods! He still loves his kibble varieties (what cat doesn't?) but I don't like him eating just kibble so I've been making Homemade Cat Food for him that he really likes; the down side is the limited variety AND the fact that I have always detested food preparation of any kind! LOL Does he have me wrapped around his little paw or what?

These days (late 2010), Khepra is still our rocket-butt boy! He often zooms around like a maniac! He used to sleep under the covers with me, but apparently it was that he was sleeping under there with Imhotep, not me, because when Imhotep died very suddenly in March 2010, Khepra stopped sleeping with me. You can imagine how sad I was to ‘lose’ both of them, since none of the other cats snuggled in bed that way. However, Khepra does snuggle on my lap quite often and is a delightful companion.

March 3, 2012 -- Our move to Arizona in June 2011 was not as wonderful for Khepra as I had expected. The move itself was fine, however, the change in feline dynamics was a struggle for him as Otter became The Queen and Khepra’s status slipped a notch. He became a little more on guard and skittish, which contributed dangerous fuel to his already hyper ‘rocket-butt’ nature. In spite of these challenges, I thought he was making good progress (with lots of TLC as well as flower essence support) when, in early February, he had a severe relapse/recurrence of a spinal injury that had occurred almost two years ago. In the past, since the first episode, a recurrence resulted in sporadic paralysis/numbness of his back end; usually, it was quite short-term thanks to remedies, Reiki and loving support, and he never indicated that these episodes were at all painful, only awkward and challenging. Unfortunately, this latest incident was more severe, and x-rays showed several areas of concern in his spinal column where lumbar vertebrae were compressed. The vet recommended some nerve supplements, and, once more, albeit slowly, Khepra appeared to be recovering. Then, this morning, as Khepra headed to the litter box, something intense must have happened along his spinal column (although I didn’t see anything outwardly); not only did he lose all function of his lower half, but he was yowling and lashing out, and I knew he was in pain. And somehow I knew that he just wasn’t going to come back this time. I managed to calm him after a while, and get him into a large carrier for the trip to the vet’s where he was assisted into the last moment’s of his life here with me.

All of this happened so suddenly; I wasn’t prepared, if there is such a thing. Anger rose; another Oriental SH lost far too soon. I felt shattered while trying to hold the pieces together for his sake. All I can trust to is that Khepra knew my deep love for him, and that I was doing what I felt was the best for him. He was remarkably calm and tolerant with the vet techs and the process; he simply kept his eyes on me or closed them trustingly as I rubbed his head and face in our special way. I am immensely grateful for Khepra in my life and will always treasure our journey together; he was unique and delightful and totally exuberant in all his precious quirky ways.