Animal Rescue Stories

Abandoned in North Dakota

Girly Girl, or Girls as we now call her, showed up on our doorstep one afternoon. This was in February in North Dakota, so it was still very cold at night. She was pregnant and was missing the tips of her ears due to frostbite. My wife and I started leaving food and water out under the trailer where it was dry.

After having her babies somewhere safe, because we looked and couldn't find them, she started showing up at our back door twice a day. In fact, she knew what time I left for work in the morning and would be waiting for me when I left the house to get fed and be pet.

One night I heard some commotion outside from our other cats who were in our fenced yard. When I went to look, Girls had brought a baby to us. So tiny and just barely able to walk. I scooped up the kitten and took it inside. It had an eye infection, so I started to clean it when I heard more noise outside.

Over the course of a couple of hours, Girls brought a total of seven kittens to us. We made up the spare bedroom for them, as it was a weekend and we couldn't get the to the no kill shelter/veterinarian we use for our cats.

First thing Monday morning we took them in, and over the the course of a couple months they were nursed back to health by the wonderful staff and all kittens found loving homes. Shortly after, my wife and I went back and adopted Girls. The vet estimated her age at 2 years, so young to have gone thru so much.

Today three years later, she is a happy and healthy loving kitty who will never go without a full bowl of food and fresh water and will never have to survive a winter outside in North Dakota.

Scott
KILLDEER, ND

My "Where's Waldo?" story

We were staying a week at our camper, closer to the hospital where my daughter was going to give birth. Our grandson was born, and we went back to the camper that evening. A gray, matted kitty kept jumping on my lap to be petted. I'd put him down and he would jump right back up.

We went to the grocery to get him food. He hung with us at our camper for the week, even answering to his new nickname, Waldo. Other cats around wanted to beat him up so he would sleep in our camper each night. We didn't realize the other cats wanted to beat him up because he was a very sick boy.

Then it was time to go home. Waldo followed us to our truck, jumped into the back seat, and became a permanent part of our family.

We took him to the vet and found out he had a severe upper respiratory infection (which explained the other cats wanting to beat him up) and also was FIV positive. He would need special attention at times.

One of them came about 2 years later. He lost half his body weight and we discovered every tooth in his little mouth was infected. We took him to a specialist, who charged us $3500 to remove his teeth. But he was better.

This guy is not the typical cat. He comes, chatting away, when you call his name. He loves car rides. He loves people, and makes sure his presence is known if someone comes to our house. Our other 2 cats run and hide, but not my Waldo!

When we go to our camper for the weekend, we leave the kitties home. When we get home, Waldo acts like he is angry at us at first for being gone, but jumps right up on my lap to snuggle the SECOND I sit down. He sleeps on my pillow, right on top of my head, and gently touches my forehead with his paw during the night.

He has now been with us over 13 years, has hyper thyroid and extreme allergies to beef, milk, rice, fish, just to name a few. We are now making his food and giving him thyroid medicine twice daily, but if it prolongs his life and quality of life, I would do these things forever.

I know the day will come in the next year or two that my Waldo will no longer be part of our family due to his FIV, but I'll enjoy every single minute of this beautiful, friendly, unusual feline that I can. He has brought our home so much joy and love.

Melanie Thompson
SHELBYVILLE, IN

My Special Inheritance

In February of 2010, I got a call from a friend who told me he had adopted a dog three days prior. He said he thought he made a mistake, as the dog cowered in the bathroom and wouldn't come out. He didn't want to take him back, but he didn't want the dog to be miserable.

I immediately went over to his house and he introduced me to Barney.

Barney was a handsome, two-year-old lab/border collie mix. He was, as my friend said, cowering and shaking on the bathroom floor. I went over and sat beside him, petting and speaking soft words of encouragement. After a while, I got him to come out to the living room, and the three of us sat on the carpet and got to know each other.

My friend was more at ease, and I knew Barney would be just fine in this new home. Barney thrived, enjoying daily walks and playing ball in the backyard. He and my friend were best buddies.

My friend had to travel a bit with his work, and as we felt Barney would freak out if he was taken to a kennel, I agreed to stay with Barney anytime my friend had to be gone. I became Barney's #2 favorite person for the next 8 years.

In June of 2018, my friend became ill with a rare bacterial infection. He died 2 weeks after entering the hospital. He never got to say goodbye to Barney, but his last words to me were "Take care of my boy." That's exactly what I did until December of 2020.

Barney started limping after jumping off the bed. I took him to the vet, who said he might have hurt his back, but the x-rays didn't show anything. She gave him some medication and I made sure he kept all 4s on the floor.

One night my family and I were watching TV and Barney stood up. We heard a crack, he yelped and fell down.

We carefully lifted him into the car and drove him to the vet. She took x-rays and said she didn't see anything, but she would send the x-rays out to be read by a radiologist.

The next morning, December 28, the vet called and said there was a fracture, but more distressing, it was bone cancer. Because of his age, 12, surgery to amputate was not an option. I got off the phone and started crying, "Not my Barney! No, dear Lord not my Barney!" I hugged him tightly, not wanting to believe he was so sick.

I know from having friends who died with bone cancer, even the most powerful pain killers did not ease the pain. I knew I could not let him suffer any longer. The vet had told me I could bring him in anytime that day.

We bundled him up and took him in. I stayed with him until he fell into the eternal sleep.

My special inheritance was gone. The memory of all the good times we had and the blessing he was to my friend and I, live on. I miss our boy, but I am thankful to have had him for a little while.

Marcia Goodrich
MESA, AZ

Labor Day baby

On Labor Day 2004, my son found a newborn kitten. Her momma had been killed. My husband was bedridden by a stroke the year before but loved cats. He told him to bring it over to look at!

My son left it, so my husband told me to get on computer and find a recipe for kitty milk. We had everything to make it, so I eye-dropper-fed the tiny newborn baby every 2 hours, which was the same schedule for meds I had to crush up for him!

A few days later she was thriving and using a low litter contraption I made using an old cookie sheet. She would watch every move I made, had to taste everything I ate that was safe for cats.

Hhe just turned 18 on Labor Day. Her eyesight is getting bad, same with hearing, but I am so thankful for the years of pleasure she has given me since my husband’s passing 16 years ago.

2004musicman@roadrunner.com
CLEARWATER, FL

Wild Meatball

It’s been a year since that cold rainy night. My mom alerted me to the sound of an animal scared in the rain. I went outside and peeked through the large grass in my neighbors yard just in time to see a little figure run past. I decided to leave food out in a dry area to encourage any strays to a warm dry meal.

The next day the food was gone. Over the course of a few weeks I met her. Wonderful perfect little Meatball. Not her real name of course, one she would later earn after she ate so much that she started to look like a meatball. It was a slow process to get her to trust us. But after a month she was coming when I called and would sleep on my front porch every night.

Winter was cold, and one night after a bad storm and watching my daughter nervously stare out her bedroom window worrying about the stray outside, I knew it was time. I didn’t see her for two days. I thought it was too late. I went through every scenario in my head, I worried about her freezing, I worried someone had hit her, I worried selfishly that someone saw how amazing she was and took her in before I could.

But then she showed up, and I was waiting. I had a collar ready and flee medication in hand. I had never picked her up before, thank God my boyfriend gently pet her and then lifted her right up and into the house. She didn’t panic. My other cats did. But I had a small room for her to get her used to us.

She hid under a chair for about thirteen seconds then came and laid with me in my room. When my boyfriend picked her up he had said, this is my cat now. And they have become thick as thieves. She sleeps with us every night. She has more character quarks than I have ever seen in a cat. And above anything else she is safe and happy. And knows nothing but love since she adopted us.

Sarah
NOTTINGHAM, MD

From Maui to Texas--my best girl

After a terrible loss in 2007 when a very special cat died of cancer way too young, I really was not coping well. Neither was my remaining kitty, Lucy; she was so lonely that she howled all night long.

So, pretty soon I contacted a wonderful rescue group on Maui, 9th Life, and met a wee purr-machine, Maxie. Well, she was called Minnie back then, because she was tiny; born at the shelter, she was very sweet, but petite and shy. Changing her name and giving her a big sister cat took care of everything. And, Lucy never howled again.

Maxie blossomed in every way. A classic black and grey tabby, her emerald eyes command attention and eloquently express her moods. Big life changes including moving from Maui to Texas didn’t bother her one bit. She has always reveled in being groomed, taking the attention as her due; I brush the other cats first, so I can save the best for last and enjoy a cat who adores the process.

Always talkative, Maxie’s varied vocalizations are LOUD; she is definitely the opera singer in the house. Her one health challenge is bad teeth, and due to that awful resorptive disease, she regularly needs to have teeth removed. Maxie, despite her senior cat status now, is queen of the toys, playing harder than the youngsters; plus, no one enjoys a catnip daze more than Maxie!

Now, Maxie is healthy and happy at 14 years old, big sister to 2 other girl cats. She runs our household with an iron paw. When not claiming the BEST sunbeam or loudly reminding me it is treat time, she may well be chasing her tail like a kitten.

Previously very independent, in the last couple years Maxie has found her soft side, snuggling with her sisters and demanding cuddle sessions with me a couple times a day. When being carried or held, she wraps her front legs around my neck, giving the BEST hugs and purring like a motorboat as she updates me on her day.

As I tell Maxie frequently, she and I have history; she remembers our time on Maui, all those we lost over the years, and the many changes—good and bad—in our life together. She’s my best girl.

Nina Davis
AUSTIN, TX

Kittens in prison

I saw three kittens in a ditch outside the prison where I worked in 2014. It was stormy so I knew they would drown. So I took them home in a box and raised them and I still have them.

Two weeks after I saved those three babies, I was walking to my car after work when a calico kitten greeted me on the sidewalk and asked me to take her home, too. So I did and she is still with me.

They are all 7 years old. I did lose one of them to feline leukemia the first year. The rest are fine.

Mstephenson17618@att.net
PRINCETON, NC

Cody's Rescue

Our neighbor, who had no family, passed. When they found her in her apartment, the police rescued her two dogs. Unbeknownst to the officers, my friend's cat was hiding. It took a me days to find out what happened to the dogs. I asked the precinct captain what happened to the cat. He wasn't aware of a cat. He sent two officers with me to open the apartment.

After 20 minutes of searching, Cody sprinted past us. It took some effort but I was able to grab him. After a week alone in the apartment Cody came home with me. He's been with me ever since.

Andrea Simon
OCEANSIDE, NY

This is Multi's family!

One fine morning, a multi-colored stray cat showed up at our place out of the blue. She was thin, malnourished and weak. We started calling her Multi because of her Calico pattern. We started feeding her the scraps and she soon turned out to be an expecting mom. We allowed her inside and provided her a safe space for delivery. Soon we found ourselves ordering the best quality cat food for her!

One beautiful morning, she gave birth to four little fur balls inside my cupboard. We called them Coconut, Caramel, Coffee and Caifi.

After a few days of delivery, Multi went out and disappeared all of a sudden. Hour upon hour passed. We knew the babies were starving. We waited for 7 hours but to no avail. And then I frantically started seeking help.

At last a Facebook friend Hirra guided me on how to arrange lactogen free milk and how to feed the kitties and help them eliminate. It was one of the toughest nights of my life. I knew four angelic lives were wholly dependent on me for survival.

I rushed to the pharmacy, bought lactogen free milk, droppers and cotton and began feeding them every few hours. The night passed, the day dawned and so did Multi, after a good 16 hours. A wave of happiness overcame us all.

Currently Multi's babies are almost 2 months old and she is feeding them diligently, and they have all grown up to be healthy, naughty and beautiful fur babies. This post is basically a tribute to Hirra with whose guidance I was able to conquer the darkness of that agonizing night! This world is a beautiful place because of people like you!

Mehvish Syed
LAHORE, Pakistan

My Otis

This is my beautiful Otis. I adopted him from Basset Hound Rescue of Ontario after he had been rescued from abandonment and abuse. He was taken to a kill shelter and was about to be euthanized when a kind technician contacted BHRO directly and he was rescued.

We had 13 1/2 years together; he was my family. He had the sweetest face, and when I massaged behind his long, soft floppy ears, he would moan at how good it felt. He would come with me in my car, we went for walks every day, he would come to friends for visits.

He had a bad start due to his mistreatment but he was rehabilitated to a become a happy and lovable boy and he had a good, long life. I loved him so much, he was my soulmate, my sweet boy.

His health began to deteriorate in the fall of 2019. On March 25, 2021, when he was 14 1/2, I had to let the love of my life, cross over. I hope he's waiting for me and can't wait until we are reunited. When we are, we will go for a nice long walk and we'll run and play and cuddle just like old times. I love you Otis. I love you so much.

Mayrienne Buxton
Beeton, Canada