My friend Laurie was driving in the grocery store parking lot, when she noticed a cardboard box in the way. She didn't want to damage her vehicle, so she avoided the box, then stopped her Jeep and went to move the box so other people wouldn't be inconvenienced.
Within the box were three kittens, about 4 months old. One of them was dead. Laurie took one home, while another customer in the parking lot adopted the other. They were absolutely covered in fleas, which climbed up Laurie's arm as she was pulling them out of the box. She took the little guy home, treated him for fleas, and tried to integrate him into her household. She would have loved to have kept him, because he's really cute and playful, but her other cat just absolutely hated him.
So, when I emailed Laurie recently to ask her to buy stuff to support the rescue, letting her know that I was fostering and volunteering for them, she asked if I could help her by rehoming the little guy, whom she'd been calling George. I got permission from Robin, who is the rescue's namesake, and Brian and I picked him up on Monday (and sold Laurie some of the cranberry sauce).
When we got him home, I gave him a distemper vaccination, wormed him, and gave him Advantage. Today, he got his FeLV and FIV test, which was negative for both (hooray!). He also got his new name, so that he would be more unique and memorable. Ianto is due for neutering on the 30th of March, and will be up for adoption very shortly after that.
He is an exceptionally pretty cat; he reminds me of a lynx-point Siamese or something. I am sickened and angry that his former owners didn't even try to drop them off at a shelter, or somewhere they could get proper care before the sibling died. What kind of person does this?
Anyway, here are photos of Ianto:
By the way, if you are in the Capital Region of New York, and you are interested in adopting Ianto, or any other foster I've written about, please send me an email and we can discuss it.
If you are interested in helping to support the rescue with donations, you can do so via the Paypal link on the homepage here. Robin's Nest has programs to help feral cats, low-cost spay/neuter clinics, and adopts out only cats that have been spayed or neutered. This all takes hard work and money, so they can use every bit of help you can spare. Also, I have set up in my Etsy shop (on the right) a way to purchase cranberry sauce, which is our current fundraiser. It's delicious, and a great price.
Also, most of the cats I photographed for the petfinder page are actually adopted now! And, our foster Leonardo just found a home yesterday. Congratulations to them :) If you visit the page, check out Rosa's photos; she was a willing and wonderful subject for me.
7 comments:
Wow, what a knockout! I'm sure someone will adopt him fast.
Yeah, what a bunch of barbarians, just throwing kittens in the trash like that. My Pendo was found in a Dumpster as a kitten, along with his littermates with a giant ulceration in his eye. And he doesn't have a mean bone in his body. (Lots of noisy ones, though!)
Andee (Meowser)
Aw, I'd love to see a photo of him, Meowser.
Little Ianto is a spitfire of biteyness, but that is probably just his nature, not because of his situation. :) He's also at teething age, so I'm not totally surprised.
He's adorable, and he's going to be adopted so fast I wouldn't be surprised if people are fighting over him.
His story reminds me of how we acquired (or were acquired by) our big foofy cat: our neighbors owned a rental property and apparently the tenants just moved on out and left their 10 week old kitten behind. I simply cannot understand that mentality - how can you even think of such a thing? The neighbors couldn't keep him because they'd just adopted another cat and dog, so they asked if we wanted him, and oh yes, we did. He's been the most wonderful cat and we spoil him rotten.
He's tho pwetty, yes him is. Ianto looks like my newest fur baby. Is he really talkative? Ours is just a fount of sarcastic little noises and chin kisses.
ms. heathen,
I haven't heard him miaow yet; he uses his mouth for biting. He also growls and hisses at the other fosters. :)
tropical,
You'd be amazed at how often I hear the "left behind" story. Pretty Lady, the calico I blogged about who had to be euthanized due to feline leukemia, was one such case. And yes, I think he will be a hot little number at the adoption clinic, if he makes it that far. If I weren't up to my ears in cats, I'd be sorely tempted. Sometimes they get spoken for before they're ever on the petfinder page; Charlotte, who is Ptera and Anya's sister, was adopted by a friend who fell in love.
From my experience...it is a wonder they left the kittens where they could be found at all.
I have known people that have put them (and puppies) in bags and threw them in a lake, buried them alive, left them on the side of the interstate highway, etc...even though there was a shelter near by...it was a small shelter but they almost always had room...small town.
I don't understand why people do this either...to me it ranks up there with child abuse. The people just don't see them as living beings...only as unwanted trash.
Oh, if I weren't 2000 miles away, I'd adopt him in a red hot minute. He's adorable, and has a brilliantly expressive little face.
I used to rescue in a small town in Eastern Washington. The shelter there had a bad rep (rightfully so) so once people found out I'd rescue and adopt out cats, they started leaving litters on my front porch. I had upwards of 15 cats at one time. Most of them I rehomed. One litter I drove to another town and turned them over to a much better shelter under a friend's name and address, because I just couldn't find homes for any more kittens and we were moving.
We've still got 6 cats right now because cute and cuddly kittens are so much easier to adopt out than neurotic, formerly abused adults. Oh the abandonment issues in my house!
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