Please Read My (Long) Heartwarming Kitty Story

litlady

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Fri May-15-09 03:44 PM
Original message

Please Read My (Long) Heartwarming Kitty Story

Edited on Fri May-15-09 04:34 PM by litlady

My fiance and I already have two cats, both rescues. We had not intended on getting another, though on every trip to Petsmart we like to pet and play with the cats there.

One day a few months ago I was grading papers when both of my cats ran to the screen door and eagerly looked out. One puffed up because something was out on the patio. At first, I couldn't even tell what it was when I looked out as I only saw a small grey tail. As I opened the screen door, the small animal bolted and jumped over the patio. At that moment I knew it was a kitten.

I went outside and it was meowing loudly in fear and cowering under a bush. It was very cold out and was soon to rain. I thought that its owner would be worried so I attempted to get it. When I ducked under the bush, it ran away and I couldn't see where it went. The brush was dense and there was no sign of the small kitten.

When my fiance came home a half hour later, he saw me wandering aimlessly around the apartment grounds looking for the kitten. I was shivering but knew that the kitten was cold and scared. I have no idea why I thought to do so but I decided to look around a truck parked nearby. It was just then that I noticed a small face peeking out at me from the undercarriage of the vehicle. Now I was really worried as I knew that it would be in danger if the truck's owner decided to leave. I called my fiance over for back up. We went up to the truck and the kitten was even more terrified. I got under the truck and slowly pulled it out. The kitten hardly fit in the truck so it was very difficult. When I finally got it out, my arms and the kitten were covered in grease. We were happy we were able to catch her because it began to rain and the coyotes howled for hours that night (they often come near/on the property).

We took the kitty inside and found out it was a girl. She was skin and bones and she looked to be only a few months old based on her size. When we gave her food, she ate the entire can within seconds. We cleaned her up and gave her a warm area to hide under the sink in the bathroom. After a few days, she started to trust us. Soon she began to purr whenever we came near her and she would sit on our laps for an hour. The first time we gave her a toy she had no idea what it was and she had great difficulty walking or running. Because of this, we made her exercise more and more until she had no problems running around and acting insane like kittens should. We had to potty train her but other than that, everything seemed fine.

However, she started to act very strange and after a few days I knew she was in heat (rolling around on the floor cooing and meowing at the top of her lungs at the door for hours!). This was confirmed when we took her to the vet; she was in heat. I was surprised that she was old enough to be in heat (which usually occurs between 4-6 months). The vet noted that she was indeed between 6-7 months and that she was likely close to death from starvation when we got her. She received all of her shots and microchip and then got spayed. Though she tried a few times to remove her sutures, the surgery went well otherwise and she was still sweet and purring after.

During this entire period we desperately searched for her owner. We didn't believe she was a stray so we continued to look for signs around the apartment building, in the surrounding neighborhood, and on craigslist. I was glad I checked craigslist because I finally found a notice about the cat. A nice lady said that she was worried because a young female Siamese cat was crawling around her patio looking for food but that she hadn't seen it in the last fews days and was worried. I contacted this woman and it turned out we lived in the same complex. She was glad I had the kitten and she told me that her neighbors had just let the cat outside because they didn't want it anymore and assumed that the kitten could just survive outside. They had never put her on solid food, never potty trained her, and didn't realize she was of the age to be spayed. Then they moved out and just left her.

Now that we knew her origin, we knew it would be our responsibility to find her a home. Because we have two adult males, we had no idea if they would react well to her. One of our boys is a sweetheart and loves everyone and often has no one to play with because his "brother" is really lazy and not as active. He immediately took to her and had a playmate. They run up and down the stairs for hours at a time. The other boy, a real "mama's boy," was very displeased for the first week. We introduced them the right way (always supervising and allowing them to smell the other cat before they ever met etc). Our other cat was upset the first few times they met but she kept exhibiting a submissive pose so he soon learned she was no threat. Within only a few weeks, all three of them were looking out the window together and sleeping near each other (though I didn't allow her to sleep with them at night for a few months because of her size).

Needless to say, we decided to keep her and she is adorable, hyperactive, and loving. She is a part of the family like my other kitties. Rescuing kitties is so rewarding!

This is her: