Blog The Change for Animals - #BtC4A - Baby Gracie

Once again it is Blog the Change For Animals day, a day when bloggers are encouraged to spread the word about helping animals and to inspire others to do the same.  Today I’m taking over the blog to write about a kitten my boyfriend rescued.

On July 31, 2014, my boyfriend, Will, was walking to the subway to get to work for the 3pm – 11pm shift. His usual shift is 7am – 3pm, but on a semi-regular basis it switches to an "off shift." While walking past a parked car he saw three children yelling and pointing underneath it.  There was a tiny kitten under the wheel of the car, which was just getting ready to pull away.  The children saw the kitten and yelled for the car to stop.  Without thinking twice Will bent down to pick it up, but it was terrified and scrambled further under the car.  This was taking place on a busy street and Will was fearful that the kitten would run out from the other side of the car into traffic, so he lied down on his stomach in the street and climbed under the car to get the kitten.  Thankfully he was successful! He scooped her up, put her inside his shirt and went back to his apartment. He set her up in the bathroom with a litter box, water, and some food and left to go to work (since he was already late).

Later that evening I got a call from him saying “I found a kitten and it’s in my bathroom.” I wasn’t home (I don’t remember where I was) so I couldn’t go over. The next day I left work early to go see the cat. The poor little thing was absolutely terrified! And she was sick. Her eye was swollen shut and had a discharge.  We went to the store to get kitten milk replacement, kitten food and a syringe (since I didn’t know if she could eat on her own because she was so tiny.) I also immediately called my vet and made an appointment to bring her in the next day and called my boss to tell her I wouldn’t be in.

I brought her home with me that night and set her up in the bathroom.  Lexy and Lola heard her little squeaks, but they never growled or hissed.  I guess they could sense it was a baby who needed help. After a couple of days of some good food and being indoors, her eye started to look a little better. She had the cutest little squeak of a meow! As feral as she was she seemed to appreciate my company, as she would quiet down when I went into the bathroom and spoke to her

At the vet the next day I found out she was a female about 6 weeks old. They cleaned her up, and gave me antibiotics and eye drops for her cold, and gave her a small dose of Frontline because she was flea ridden.

Lucky for us Carolyn of Oliver’s Orphan Oasis was kind enough to take this little feral baby in. On the drive up to Putnam County to drop her off, I was thinking that it was by the Grace of God that she was able to escape getting run over, so I decided to name her Gracie after one of my favorite Facebook cats, Gracie the Wonder Cat.  I think Gracie knew she was safe because she was calm and content on the ride. I could definitely sense a shift in her energy.

Gracie’s story has a happy ending. Carolyn did a wonderful job of socializing her, and she was adopted (along with another cat from Oliver’s) and is living a wonderful life in her forever home. Between her vet visit, Frontline for our four cats, and a donation to Oliver’s, we spent a little over $600, and it was worth every penny. I am very grateful and very blessed to have a significant other who would not think twice about lying face down on a dirty city street and climbing under a car to save a kitten.  I’m thankful to share my life with someone whose heart is as big as mine when it comes to animals. Gracie’s life was forever changed in that split second that Will was walking by, and I think Will’s was as well.

Dawn