Lucy Lou Lane

The little loop right outside of Casa De Calmar was named for one of its most high-spirited, high-profile cats, Lucy Lou.

Even as a kitten, Lucy Lou was always ready for - no, make that always demanded - her close-up. As the uncontested Lobby Queen of Calmar, the home for Best Friends feline leukemia residents, Lucy Lou appointed herself as the official greeter to all who visited.

Joni Miller, training advisor for new staff working with cats, said Lucy Lou was one of the most beautiful calico cats she had ever seen.

"I think she knew it, too," Miller says. "Anytime anyone took out a camera, Lucy Lou came running to make sure she was not just in the photo, but center stage."

Lucy had a mischievous streak that just wouldn't quit. One time, Miller left a tin of butter cookies unattended on her desk. She came into her office only to find her "Royal Caliconess" eating right out of the tin she managed to push off the desk and open with her paw. On another occasion, Lucy Lou stole a peanut butter sandwich out of a closed backpack.

Lucy Lou always followed the sun. Literally. She loved to snooze in a little cat bed in the sunshine. When the sun had the nerve to follow its natural course in the sky and move away from her bed, Lucy Lou would meow for her "servants" to come and move her bed into the sun again. And again. And again.

"Of course we accommodated her," Miller says. "We did so because she was Lucy Lou, the Queen of Calmar - and everything else, too."

Lucy Lou succumbed to feline leukemia at the age of six.  Miller said it was hard on everyone at Calmar when she passed. The little loop that is Lucy Lou Road is a reminder to everyone who visits to remember this feisty beauty queen of a cat with fondness and smiles.

Written by Amy Abern