Since we married, my wife & I have rescued & brought in about a dozen cats. We've fed others. We've catnapped from neglectful owners, picked kittens off the streets, socialized or helped socialize adult cats, and participated in our local TNR program.
Our biggest success so far is with 'Zara'. She'd been part of a colony her whole life as far as we know. Some neighbors started socializing her, and before they moved away, moved the colony to our house. About 3 years ago, we brought her daughter, ZsuZsu in. ZsuZsu was about 8 weeks old, so while my better half had to work with her, it didn't take long to get her to trust us. She's a beautiful black kitty, very loving. Sadly, her little brother Little Bear was too weak to survive. A few months later though, we discovered she had another brother, Zebulon Big Bear. Zeb's not as well socialized, but he'll usually let you pet him. Getting him to the vet just hasn't happened. When we tried, he went crazy, clawed my hand, bit, and we lost every bit of trust he'd built up with us. But a year and a half ago, we decided that mama (Zara) was socialized enough to try to catch her. I picked her up, put her in the carrier, and she was as calm as could be. The vet was amazed she was 'feral'. 'Feral'. HA! They did a blood sample, brought her back in wrapped up like a purrito, and she was completely calm. If you pet or scratch around her head, she'll take little nips, but it's not a hard attack bite. And the other day, for the first time, I heard the faintest, tiniest beginnings of a purr from her.
Next up- HER mama. I've picked her up a couple times, and she's fine. Tried a cardboard carrier and... well, we'll need something stronger than cardboard. Three generations of cats, all with a 'furever' home.
Our other biggest is Nala. We'd come home from out of town, and got here around 4:30 on a Saturday. Much earlier in the day, and a day earlier than normal. My better half spotted this tiny little kitten by the side of the road, and we picked her up. Since we didn't have kitten supplies, we headed to PetsMart. When the little one suddenly went limp as we pulled in to the parking lot, and since their vet office had closed, we headed to the emergency clinic. Little girl was SO sick. Fleas, worms, ear mites, dehydrated, anemic, and a condition called hemobartonella, meaning the blood doesn't produce iron. She had 2 transfusions the first week we had her, and another one a few months later. The vet said she wouldn't have survived another hour. Nala's grown in to this gorgeous black kitty green eyes, and her coat is like velvet. No health issues since then, but she's less active than most of the others.
Please, share your rescue stories.
Pics are Nala, Zara, and ZsuZsu
