Spice came into my life suddenly. A white and orange cat that looked remarkably like my mom’s cat Ginger. At the time all we knew is he belonged to the man renting the house across the street but when he left he didn’t take his cat with him.

The newly homeless cat was gangly and boney when he started sneaking onto the porch at night to eat our outside cat’s food. He was sly though, the only reason we knew is because of how hungry Oz, our cat, was acting.

That’s when we saw him, posted up and watching through a window. A white thief in the night. The next day I put out another bowl at the edge of our yard and waited outside for the cat to emerge. He let me approach him while he was eating and pet him, soon making himself comfortable on the porch with Oz, like he always lived there.

Every day I would walk out and he would still be there, laying in a purple dog bed and coming right for me when he heard the door open. We wondered what the cat's gender was because on the inside of their ear is a tattoo that represents a fixed animal.

I thought it was a boy because I am no first-time cat owner and I have had several unfixed male cats and prominently placed on their backside are their balls and when they are neutered, the balls are removed. To me, Spice looked to be a male based on an area beneath his tail that looked to be where balls once were.

From then on we referred to Spice as a male, but some were skeptical so they asked a family friend who then told us Spice, was a girl. What?

So now my boy cat is a girl, cool. Our neighbors said the man who had previously owned Spice said she was a younger cat, no more than two years. That information seemed pretty solid based off of how Spice acted.

When I went off to college in the fall, after spending that summer getting Spice adjusted to a new home. I moved into my own apartment and not halfway through the semester plans were being made to bring Spice to Raleigh with me. Having three cats is an expense and I was happy to take one of them off of her hands.

She hated the trip but loves living as an inside cat in Raleigh. Spice is easily the best cat I’ve had, with her loving temperament and playful nature. I took her to a doctor in Raleigh and ran the usual tests when you are transitioning an outside cat to an inside one.

I told them when we checked in that I was not 100 percent on the age or gender of Spice, only the time frame when he came in my life.

That day I walked in with a female cat, no more than two years old and left with a boy kitty. He also tested positive for feline aids. It does the same thing to cats that it does to humans, so now Spice lives in a bubble because I am trying to prolong his life. Anyone who thinks their cat is better, I invite you to meet Spice and see how amazing he is. It makes it even more disappointing that his life is cut short.

Even though my heart breaks for the limited time I have with him I am so glad that instead of looking for a kitten online I chose to take Spice into my life and give him the home he deserves.