It is thought that the Chief Officer was born in Miami sometime in 1998. She came to us skinny and with several illnesses, from an abusive home, when she was around two. Her first year with us she mostly spent in hiding while we were around. In her second year, she warmed up to the Admiral, and in the third, she stopped scurrying anytime the Seaman was home, and from the fourth year and onwards she became the most outgoing of our cats. Isabella snuggled up visitors, and many have remarked that she was the dearest.
She was Philippe's best friend, and the Seaman used to say that all she wanted was to be loved, but in truth, her first love was food. Oh, how she loved food. She was fierce about her breakfast, lunch, dinner, and her snacks. In her later years, when she went on a low protein diet for her progressive renal failure, she used to try and steal Philippe's and the Alferez's food, and skulk around their plates. The Admiral let her cheat a bit, because Isabella's charms couldn't be resisted.
At first she used to get seasick while sailing Peregrinus, but as with the other challenges in her life, she overcame it. Isabella was a fighter, but in the end, old age can't be beaten. She went to sleep June 17, 2014, in Virginia Beach, aged 16.
Isabella as a 12-year old lady, taking the sun from her 36th floor window. May 28, 2010, iPhone 3G.