New Kitten

We know that anyone who wears Sassy Scrubs is a compassionate person, whether you help people in a dentist's office or a medical office, or help pets in a veterinary office. So, I decided you might enjoy this little story.

We lost our wonderful orange kitty, Dandelion, in November. We had him for over two years and he was very friendly and loving. We swore that he always had a smile on his face. He liked to sleep in the top of the garage and as soon as we'd pull the car in, we'd hear a "thump" as he jumped down on the car roof to greet us. My girls laughed many times to see him sliding down the windshield on his wide orange bottom and then grin at us as he stood on the hood of the car, looking in at us. We had never, never seen him down by the road. Our older cat, Q, would be seen hunting in the ditch, but never Dandelion. He had more fun catching birds by the birdfeeder! So, with no possible explanation for it, we found Dandy at the end of our driveway one day, having been hit by a car. My girls - especially my 7 year old, Kenna - were heartbroken. He was such a great cat.

Well, about 6 weeks after that happened, we came home from Christmas shopping at the mall and there was a little orange kitten in the garage! Now, keep in mind that December is the wrong time of year for kittens - there aren't many mamma cats who go into heat that late in the season to have kittens at that time - and we live multiple acres from our nearest neighbors - too far for this tiny kitten to have walked to our garage in the cold weather. So, we were surprised to say the least! But we were also surprised when we realized that this little orange kitten was born around the same time we lost our beautiful orange Dandelion.

Anyway, the kitten was scared when our garage door opened and ran out of the garage to hide under the front porch. The girls called to the kitten and set out food for her, trying to lure her to safety, but she was frightened. This was during a cold snap and the wind was howling and the temperature was dropping but my girls would not give up. The girls tried for two days straight and finally caught the kitten - the temp went to 14 degrees that night and 12 degrees the next night!!

The kitten was so sweet and friendly that the girls fell instantly in love with her. I made a vet appointment for her as soon as I could get one and we took her to be checked out. She had shown signs of a cold in her eye and was quite small so we wanted to get her healthy. Well, of course, we had her tested for Feline Leukemia before giving her the shots she'd need, and sadly, she tested positive for this deadly disease. My heart sank.

The vet explained to the girls, who were with me, of course, that the kindest thing to do was to have her put to sleep, since she'd never feel well - she was coughing and sneezing and her eye would close nearly all the way from drainage - and would be susceptible to anything which came along, making her more sick. Plus, even though Q had received his vaccinations, she would put his health at risk since he is so old (14 years old!) and he could pick up the Feline Leukemia, along with any of the other things she could not fight off.

The girls were so brave, but it broke our hearts to make this decision. It's just not right that a cute little kitten should come to us to be rescued and then we have to do this. Whoever planned THAT???? Sigh.

Anyway, Kenna was now obsessed with an orange kitten. How could she lose her Dandy, and the new kitten - all in so short a time and right before Christmas? So, I took her to our local County Humane Society. We answered the only two ads in the paper for kittens. We called a suburban animal shelter an hour from our home. We searched the photos online for the two neighboring County Humane Societies. No orange kittens. Zip. At this point Kenna'd take any kitten, but then decided to wait for the orange one - to honor Dandelion and the new little kitten, she had named Rosealie.

So, the Sunday before Christmas, her Daddy looked on craigslist and found a photo of three orange kittens at a Cat Rescue Group an hour away. Guess where he was off to on Sunday afternoon during a near white-out of blowing, drifting snow? Yep - he picked out the sweetest, nicest little orange kitten you have ever seen. He brought it home and hid it in his coat. He asked Kenna to come over and put her ear to his coat. Puzzled, she put her head up to his chest....and heard the purring. Watching her face as she figured it out was absolutely priceless. She had her little orange kitten for Christmas.

His name is Jasper and he is adorable. Kenna still talks about Dandelion and Rosealie, but the pain is lessened now. Jasper sleeps with her at night and curls up on her lap when she is watching TV. He knows she is "mommy" and purrs when he sees her. He comes to her and meows when it is her bedtime, ready to cuddle up with her. She sings for him at the top of the stairs - her own little "kitty call" and he races up to be with her. He is such a little sweetie.

I know things work out for the best and I just don't understand all the pain that had to happen first, but I know that Jasper, this wonderful orange kitten, was supposed to come to our house and be loved by our daughter.
And, he sure is.