I know this is Kristen J and Chi’s territory this week, but it’s Friday, so why not a few animal photos?
Edited to add: This was scheduled to go up tomorrow. I’m stupid and put it up early. Whoops.
And also I’m just being narcissistic because I just got a kitten. His name is Pete, and he is wonderful. I’ve been hesitant to get a cat ever since my little buddy died in October, but I decided it was time. I joked with friends about how this time around, I was going to pick the sturdiest, fattest, healthiest cat possible — last time, my weakness for the most vulnerable animal meant I ended up with a cat I adored, but a cat who didn’t survive for very long because of all of his health problems.
So I went to a cat foster mom’s house to see six adorable little kittens I had spotted on PetFinder. On my way in to the kitten room, she introduced me to a few other cats she was fostering. One was young, but not a tiny kitten, and had his back leg in a sock. I walked over, petted him, and he immediately came to me and started purring and nuzzling. My roommate gave me a sideways look. He was mine.
I went to see the kittens anyway, and thought long and hard about whether I wanted to take on another cat with health issues. And the kittens were of course adorable and lovely and so so so cute. But when I went back to pet the little busted-up guy, I knew he was mine.
The woman who was fostering him told me that he had been abandoned in a grocery store and basically left to starve, until a forklift came down on him and crushed his foot. He was left for a week, bleeding, until one of the store employees brought him in. The woman who fostered him was left to make the call of whether to put him down or undergo very expensive and difficult surgery; as she was deciding, he was purring in her hand, and she made the call to save him. He had surgery on the foot and had to get all of his toes except one taken off, and it’s still a pretty gnarly wound that requires a lot of care. They aren’t sure it’ll ever heal properly, and so he may end up footless. The rescue organization called him Orange Crush.
Despite his traumatic start, he is one of the sweetest, most social cats I’ve ever seen. He’s a purr machine. He keeps my up all night wanting to snuggle. If you stop petting him, he will grab your hand and hold it. He is great. He makes me miss my first cat, but he is great.
The organization that saved him is also great. Beyond great. I’m currently fostering him and they’re covering his medical bills, which are substantial — he had to have emergency surgery, and we still go to the vet every day to have his bandage changed, and there’s a chance that he’ll have to have an amputation. It’s a small org and they’re run by a handful of extremely dedicated volunteers, so if you have the ability, they are quite worthy of a donation (and yes that is Pete, formerly called Orange Crush, on the donation page).
And my roommate adopted one of the teeny kittens, so it’s basically the best of both worlds in here.
And just so we aren’t TOO cat-lady in here, how stinkin’ cute is this dog I get to dog-sit?
Anyone else have cute animal photos you want to share?