Back on the 26th of June, Rose and I were involved in rescuing a newborn kitten (read here if you missed it). We brought her to my sister-in-law, Felice, who is an experienced kitten rescuer. She worked hard to keep the kitten alive and now she is doing well.
Rose said she wanted to name the kitten Luis, if it was a boy, after her maintenence supervisor who found the kitten and called Rose for help. It was a girl and she ended up with the Name Lulu (see here and here) but that didn’t stick so now she is called Miss Luis, which we pronounce “Louie.”
We were at Felice’s house on Saturday to celebrate the birthday of Rose and Felice’s mother. While I was there I was able to get a few good pictures of Miss Luis along with two male kittens that Felice took in shortly after Miss Luis arrived.
Miss Luis
Miss Luis
Makeshift kitten sanctuary.
The three kittens had fun playing together for awhile and then one fell asleep on the couch while Miss Luis hid behind the pillows. The third cat disappeared into the bathroom where he napped in a carrier that has become their bedroom.
Miss Luis eventually fell asleep with one of the boy kittens.
Later, the third kitten came out and joined Miss Luis in some play while his brother tried to nap.
Of course there are more than kittens at Felice’s house and I got plenty of attention from some of the locals.
The next day, Miss Luis went to her new home. A man adopted her so another female kitten he recently adopted could have company. I was told she cried all the way to her new home but then quickly became friends with resident kitten.
The other day I saw a Facebook post from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay about a cat that literally came back from the grave. My first thought was to share the story but then it occurred to me that I follow other cats on Facebook that have equally impressive stories of great trauma and survival, so I though I would share some of their stories as well.
The first story is about a cat named Bart. He was hit by a car and found by a neighbor, “stiff and in a pool of blood.” The neighbor brought Bart to his owner who buried him. Somehow Bart managed to dig himself out of the grave and was found by a neighbor five days later. That neighbor knew that Bart was dead and buried and brought him to his owner. The owner could not afford the cost to treat him and asked the Human Society for help.
Bart continues to improve and his prognosis looks good. The Humane Society has investigated Bart’s home environment and the circumstances surrounding the accident and burial and decided not to return Bart to his home. You can learn more about Bart and his progress here.
Then there is Mr. Biscuits. He was a young cat in Philadelphia that was cold and decided to keep warm in the engine of a car where he got stuck. The driver of the car was not aware of his presence and drove to work. Fortunately, he noticed a problem with his power steering and opened his hood when he got to work to see what was wrong. That is when he made the shocking discovery.
Animal control officers worked for nearly two hours before freeing the kitten, who was severely burned over 25% of his body. He may have even been on fire at one point. He was rushed to Metropolitan Veterinary Associates who thought his injuries were too severe to treat but after seeing him lying on the table and “making biscuits” they decided to try.
Mr. Biscuits was taken in by The Grannie Project, a rescue organization that normally helps older cats but made an exception for Mr. Biscuits. Thanks to their help, he continues to improve.
theobserver.ca
Another amazing survival story is Joe The Cat. Joe was found on the side of the road near Sarnia, Ontario, Canada. He was shot in the head 17 times with a pellet gun. A good Samaritan, thinking he was hit by a car, picked him up and brought him to the Humane Society.
Surviving 17 shots to the head, presumably at close range, is a miracle in itself, but what is really amazing is how the people of Sarnia came together in support of Joe. Two men were charged in the shooting and now the people are rallying around Joe’s cause in a fight to establish tougher penalties for animal abusers. Even though I have no influence in Ontario, I support their cause.
Last, but not least, there is Frosty the Frozen Kitten. She was found in barn on Dec 30th, 2013. The temperature had been below zero for many days and colder weather was on the way. She was so frozen that one of her limbs would not move and her eyes were frozen open. It was a miracle that she survived the first night and was near death for several days.
Slowly she started to get better. Her blindness caused by the extreme cold has healed but she still has trouble regulating he body temperature and will sometimes wear clothing or sleep on a heated cat bed.
You can read the entire story of Frosty’s rescue and rehabilitation here.
I think all of these cats are amazing but the true heroes are the ones who worked hard in the background to help save these cats and give them hope for a better future. The same can be said for everyone who helps an animal in need. What do you think of these amazing kitties? Do you know of another survival story that you would like to share?
Update: After posting this I realized I missed writing about Bobbie the Survivor. A bobcat attacked her and left her for dead. When someone discovered her and called for help, the bobcat came back and attacked again. You can read more of her story here. I also missed Crouton – Fire Survivor and Cat Extraordinaire. He was inside a house that was completely destroyed by fire. Read his story here.
Yesterday we visited my sister-in-law. I like going there, in part because I like her and her husband, but also because she has a house full of cats that are a great opportunity for photographs. This day was even better because she is fostering three seven-week-old kittens that are almost ready for adoption.
Felice works for a vet and has taken in many cats that others rejected. She has experience with bottle feeding infant kittens and has brought several back from the brink of death. She has also lost some, but fortunately these three survived and are now happy and playful. The kittens were found by a client at around four days old and brought to the vet. Their umbilical cords were still attached. Felice took them home and bottle fed them every two to three hours for several weeks. She has a method and I hope to get her to share the details.
I noticed that a couple of the kittens backed away slightly when I tried to pet them but then were okay with it. Felice told me that the mother’s milk has natural antibodies that keep the kittens healthy but bottle fed kittens are subject to a variety of ailments. These ailments lead to a lot of necessary but unpleasant human contact, which explains the hesitation, but now that they are well, I’m sure they will get over it soon.
The black and white female kitten (without the mustache) is spoken for but the two males are looking for a good home. If you, or anyone you know, are near Tampa Bay Florida and would be willing to adopt one, or both, of these cute kittens, please email me at: me (at) charleshuss dot com.
The first time I heard the word “woobie” was in 2005. Rose heard her mother use it to refer to a blanket that her brother would carry around with him like Linus from the Peanuts comic strip. I thought it was a made up word but it really exists and it means “security blanket.”
I was introduced to the word after we adopted Tigger and Flash. Initially, Tigger was adopted by Rose’s mother, but the next day the shelter called and said they wanted him back because his brother Flash was in much distress without him. We tried to talk her into adopting Flash (they had different names then) but she only wanted one cat at that time so we ended up adopting both of them.
They lost their mother at a very young age so Tigger developed a habit of sucking on Flash’s belly. Rose referred to Flash as Tigger’s “woobie” and would jokingly say to tigger “No sucking on the woobie!”
Tigger sucking on Flash’s belly.
Tigger and Flash with Alex watching.
Later we bought a fleece blanket and discovered that the cats were attracted to it like catnip. Soon the blanket was referred to as the “woobie blanket” and we bought several more over the years.
Last week Rose put one of the woobie blankets on one of the chairs in the living room and it instantly became Chris’s new favorite place to nap.
The first story is about a cat named Bart. He was hit by a car and found by a neighbor, “stiff and in a pool of blood.” The neighbor brought Bart to his owner who buried him. Somehow Bart managed to dig himself out of the grave and was found by a neighbor five days later. That neighbor knew that Bart was dead and buried and brought him to his owner. The owner could not afford the cost to treat him and asked the Human Society for help.
Then there is 
Bad Cat Chris 
