Monday, July 18, 2011

Kitten Sweetness

Orange Kitten Fine Art Print print
Orange Kitten Fine Art Print

There's nothing sweeter than the miracle of new life.  After just losing my dog and one of our cats, the perfect cheer-me-up came to the door yesterday.  Meet Vol, a 6 week old orange and white kitten who was just adopted by a friend.  Little Vol almost didn't make it into this world.


Orange Cat Square Fine Art Print print
Orange Cat Square Fine Art Print

This is Juicy, Vol's mother.  Juicy was a stray in our neighborhood. At the time this pregnant cat decided to roost at my house, there was also another stray who had just brought us three kittens.  This was in addition to our 4 rescued strays we already had here.  There was no way all of these cats could stay, so I got in touch with various animal rescue groups, who were of no help (because they all were full).  So I called the humane society.  She told me they were full and I'd have to call animal control.  I told her I didn't want to call them, because they are a kill facility.  She told me the cats/kittens had 30-40 days and that their cat adoption rate was very high.  Still hesitant, I called the female animal control officer I knew, and asked her to come pick up the cats, since I was out of money for food and had just enough food left to feed my 4 original cats until the next payday.

When she showed up, I was still hesitant to let them go, but when this female officer told me she was taking the cats to a local vet who spays/neuters them and puts the ones who don't get adopted onto her farm, I was willing to let them go, and was happy they would have a chance to be adopted and end up in a safe place if they didn't.

Fast forward two days, until I saw something very disturbing on Facebook (yes, Facebook allows the world to become very small these days!).  Turns out, the lady had lied to me -- the cats were taken straight to the kill shelter and were put on death row...with...get this...2-3 days to live!  On day 2, the orange female we called "Juicy" had her 4 kittens while in their "custody".  Still...she and the 4 kittens were scheduled to be put down. 

I was FURIOUS.  This wasn't what I was told at all, by either the Humane Society or the animal control officer.  And it turns out this is a long-standing problem here of Rabies Control misleading people, as a week or so later, this article came out in our local news.  According to that article, the officer had that man sign some documents.  I was never given any documents to sign.  But I was given a bunch of lies!  And now these poor kitties weren't even going to have a chance.

But once again, thanks to the beauty of Facebook and the ability to share information quickly, word got out and thanks to a kind, generous woman, Juicy and her babies were saved.  Photos of her and her kittens were circulating fast, and I shared the photo with a friend of mine who said she wanted the orange kitten.  I put her in touch with the lady who rescued them, and that is how "Vol" became adopted by my friend last night.

She brought him by so I could meet him, and of course, I had to shoot some photos.  What a precious little fella he is!  In fact, I've already added his sweet face to a variety of cards and gifts in my shop.  I'm so glad he made it and has a good home.  He was the only boy of the bunch and the only orange one.  His 3 sisters have already been adopted as well, and Juicy, the mother cat, is staying with her rescuer.  Despite a rough start -- almost NO start to life - these babies and their mother made it out okay, and for that, I am very thankful.

--Jai

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