This is Rana. I adopted her in July '07 after seeing her picture on Petfinder. My mom was browsing through the cats and Rana (then called Giselle) caught my attention from across the room. Her eyes are what drew me in but after adopting her I knew she was meant to be mine. Naming her was quite an ordeal. Giselle was not right at all but I just couldn't find a name that was beautiful and unique enough for her.

After a week or so of searching I stumbled upon Rana (Rah-nuh), which is Arabic for "eye-catching" and it was perfect. She certainly is eye-catching with her medium length white fur and bright odd eyes. Now she rules as the queen of my 4 cats (three whites - two of which are odd-eyed - and a bombay) and never fails to keep me warm at night. During the day she and my other three keep my mom's garden free of pests, usually leaving the day's winnings on my bedroom floor...

Last summer I moved back in with my parents who live out in the country so I was able to start letting my kitties outside. Our house is near a place called L.A. Pipeline and it deals with large pipes for ditches and such. Well, one night Rana didn't come home, so my mom and I walked around our 4 acre yard searching for her. She didn't come running and we never heard a single meow, so we decided to go back inside and try again later. I went back to my bedroom and sat down without turning my tv on, which I don't usually do.

I couldn't believe it when I suddenly heard a faint cry outside. I jumped up and ran out the door screaming for my mom. The cry was coming from LA Pipeline. We found a hole in their fence and crawled inside where we found Rana, stuck in a huge rusty pipe that was sitting almost vertical. There was a tiny hole in the bottom where Rana could see out and she had a rusty circle on her face from trying to push through it. I ran and got some employees and they had to get a forktruck to free my poor Rana!

What was worse was that my other cats were curious so they followed mom and me over there. I had to grab them so they didn't get stuck, too. Unfortunately, the ordeal stressed her out so much she developed an infection. For the next two weeks I had to hand feed her and force her to drink water. Needless to say, I don't see my babies over by those pipes anymore.

Alana Jo H.