How many cats do you know who’ve been offered a second chance? This is the topic I’ve chosen for today’s blog. The Internet is full of stories of injured cats and kittens born with deformities who now live happy lives among people who love them. Many of those cats and kittens faced euthanasia. Either the veterinarian recommended it or well-meaning people suggested it. But thankfully in many of these cats’ situations, one person held fast to their conviction that this kitty should be given a chance.
I adopted a pregnant mother cat some years ago partly because the shelter had her scheduled for euthanasia. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her, except that someone had not taken responsibility to have her spayed. Yes she was pregnant and had been abandoned and for that, the shelter director decided she should be put on death row.
Not on my watch. Maggie turned out to be a lovely, lovely pet and her kittens were all born
healthy. We kept Daisy and found homes for the other two kittens.
My friend Johanna found a struggling black kitten at the same shelter many years later and asked about adopting her. They told her she was very ill and she would not make it. They planned to kill that kitten, too. Johanna adopted her, took her to the vet to start treatment. The vet told her Nikki was very ill and would not make it. Johanna did not believe it. So she took time off work and nursed Nikki until she improved. Nikki grew into a beautiful cat who lived a good long life. I believe Nikki was close to 17 when she died.
While scouring the Internet for stories of cats who had been given up on, I found story after story of cats born with deformities, injured cats, unwanted/abandoned cats, abused cats and neglected cats that were rescued and saved and who thrived.
Read about Princess, the kitten with club feet here: http://www.lifewithcats.tv/2017/08/26/princess-challenges-appear-a-blessing-to-her-family-1/
If you like happy-ending cat stories, here’s a site you might enjoy: https://mkcatrescue.org/adopt/
There are hundreds—possibly thousands of people working behind the scenes to rescue and rehabilitate and place cats in loving homes and thousands of people who have adopted such cats or who operate facilities for special needs or elderly cats. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Paws.
Both of our cats were rescues in this way. Lucy especially was on death row. She was 8-9 months old and had been abandoned. The person who found her could not keep her and the SPCA found that she had a upper respiratory infection. They did not want to keep her. A call went out and since we were sort of in the market, having lost a beloved 19 year old cat about 6 months earlier, we said sure, we’re ready for a new kitty. She knew she was in deep dodo and was and I think still is so grateful that we saved her. She is the sweetest thing and we are so glad she is with us.
Zoey was a rescue through Petsmart. She is unusual because she was 6 years and had what the vet thought was an ear infection. She actually has allergies and itchy ears. Anyway, I’m not sure what the cat organizations do if the cats aren’t adopted from Petsmart, but we got her. She was a difficult cat at first, but after 5 years, she has gained trust in us and I think is happy. She is 11 now and looks like she/ll be with us a long time still.
Bless you, Betsy! and lucky Lucy and Zoey.