I first saw Simba on Christmas Eve, 1999. I stepped in front of the house to fix some Christmas decorations and heard this "MEOW!" I looked down to see this adorable cat actually 'smiling' at me. I've never seen anything like it! He followed me around the house to the garage, since I was preparing to go to the store, I gave him some treats to get him out of the garage area and hoped he would be there upon my return. I had noticed he was not tagged so thought another stray had found their way to me! All the while I was gone, I was thinking what to name him. When I did return, he was not there and I was sad. He then would appear throughout the next few months - we would get 'visits' from Simba in our backyard when we were out there doing yard work. He would always come up and "MEOW!" and I'd see him 'smiling'. The one time he startled me so much-we had not seen him for awhile and when I looked down to see him, I swore he was a baby lion cub! But in the suburbs, that's highly unlikely! So alas, the name SIMBA!! -The baby Lion Cub from the Disney movie "THE LION KING". Simba would hang out in our yard with us, following us around and bird watching. During the months of June-August 2000, we did not see Simba-I thought the worse may have happened to him. Either he had met a terrible fate being outside all the time, or he was in hiding since these are very, very hot months in the southwest where we lived at the time. I was sad not to see my 'smiling' baby lion cub. Then one day in early September 2000, I heard that "MEOW!" and looked down to see my 'ol buddy 'smiling' up at me. At first I wasn't 100% sure it was him, he looked a little thinner, but figured he probably had lost his 'winter' fur. From this day on I started to monitor how much Simba was in our yard because it seemed more than previously. I had not attempted to take in Simba earlier, because even though untagged, I began to believe he had to be someone's cat just because he was so extremely friendly! As I monitored Simba during the next few weeks in September of 2000, I noticed he was there when I woke at 5am, there on days I spiratically came home for lunch at 1pm and there at 4:30pm when I came home from work. He would be there when it was dark out also. I thought then it was rather odd for him to be here in our yard practically around the clock. I took a picture of him with our digital camera and posted bright gold signs throughout our neighborhood asking "IS THIS YOUR CAT?" After the sign being posted for 3 weeks, only 1 phone call was received stating "he's just the neighborhood cat". Well, immediately, the next time I saw him in our yard, I made an appointment with the vet and took him in that very day. He received a clean bill of health and to my amazement was already neutered. I said "Simba, where is your family!?" The vet replied, "People move all the time and unfortunatley leave their pets behind, this may be what happened here".





After taking in Simba, there was alot of ups and downs due to his behavior problems. I tried everything I could think of to cure his being aggressive with my 3 girl cats, his howling to go outside, his spraying and just being a bad boy! I felt I was at my wits end-he was so bad, yet he was my little lover boy-if he could crawl into my ear he would! He is such a cuddler! When I finally couldn't find any solution to my problems with him, I took him to the vet and after a long discussion, it was determined Simba has a condition called "Feline Hyperesthesia". This syndrome is a psychological, skin & neurological disorder with symptoms such as: "twitching/rolling" of the skin/fur, spraying, extreme aggression towards other animals and/or humans (Simba's never shown any to us, only the girl cats) obsessive/compulsive behaviors, seizures, muscles disorders and other bad behavior problems - all of which Simba was exhibiting. He is now on feline medication and doing much better. Read more about his conditions on Simba's Diseases page. After having Simba a few months, we had found out that Simba did have previous owners that had lived a block or so away from us. After they had a baby, they came to the conclusion they could not let Simba back into their home because he acted jealous of the baby. I don't know what is worse, someone turning over their beloved kitty to a shelter to be put into a cold cage, scared and alone only to meet a death by injection, or someone who decides to not let their beloved kitty back into only home they've ever known to face the elements of the outside world, starvation and an almost sure death by an automobile or some deranged human being. Simba wasn't just misbehaving with us or 'acting' jealous of the previous owner's baby, he has a condition that required medical treatment-all he needed was someone to care enough to help him overcome his troubles. All I know is for whatever reason, of all the other homes, Simba chose mine. I will take care of him, and love him, and nuture him no matter what, until the end of time.








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Name: Simba
Birthday: May 1999

I Like: Fud, sleeping wit meowmie, fud, laying on meowmie, fud, sitting on meowmie, fud, being da king, fud
I DON'T Like: Da vacuum, when i git in trouble fur chas'in da girls





MY NICKNAMES:

Simba-Sue!
Big Guy
Mr. Sue
Little Man










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