Mother and Son

Victoria, a stunningly beautiful grey cat born about January 30th 2010, was abandoned as a wee kitten. She was first seen scrounging for food in the allies behind the restaurants and rooming houses on Arthur Street and Somerset.

Two young tennants of one of the houses befriended and fed her; so she is quite friendly towards them. She is still afraid of strangers and whoever adopts her must realize that it will take a while for her to trust them.

She is a gentle, watchful, intelligent young cat who was deprived of her kittenhood.

When Victoria was 6 months old she gave birth to three kittens outdoors. Their names are Arthur, Gwenivere, and Rowena. Little Arthur was born blind but Victoria took good care of her kittens and they are robust.

When she introduced her kittens to the people feeding her, they noticed that Arthur was blind and removed him from her, fearing that he would not survive outdoors. A day or so later they removed Rowena and Gwenivere as well.

Victoria was so distraught over the loss of her kittens that she actually broke into their home through the screen, braving the wrath of the cats inside the home, and ran through the apartment calling for her kittens.

The next evening, in order to trap Victoria, the rescuers placed the kittens in a carrier beside the trap. Victoria appeared almost immediately but was so trap-savy, that she stretched over the mechanism without stepping on it in order to get to the food. Failing that she just stayed close to the carrier of kittens but refused to enter the trap; preferring to remain hungry than be trapped.

Late in the evening the rescuers took the carrier of kittens away. Victoria realized that her kittens would disappear again and immediately walked into the trap as if to say, take me too.

Victoria and her kittens were taken to a quiet room in a foster home where she was given food, water, and a snug warm cubby hole to nurse her kittens. She was terrified but within minutes the foster mother could approach her and offered her catnip. Although very stressed, she did not try to bite or scratch. She soon moved her kittens to what she considered to be a safer, albiet less comfortable, place under a bureau.

Victoria watches intently from a distance when the foster mother plays with the kittens. She sometimes calls them to come to her and her body language clearly indicates, we are not amused. Hence her name.

Victoria deserves a patient, kind and caring home, hopefully with one of her kittens. She will be a wonderful, intelligent pet once she learns to trust her family.

Arthur

Arthur (aka Fearless Fosdick) is blind. He was 6 weeks old (born July 30th 2010) and not even weened when Cat Rescue Network heard about him. He and two siblings, Rowena and Gwenevier, were born to a six month old abandoned kitten, Victoria, behind a house on Arthur Street..Life is difficult enough for feral cats, but a blind feral kitten would have no hope for survival.

Thanks to the people who had been feeding Victoria since she was a wee kitten, little Arthur was handled gently and treated with kindness. At six weeks of age he was a happy, friendly playful and fearless little kitten. He does not realize that he has limitations.

When he was taken to a foster home, along with his mother and siblings, he marched out of the carrier and began to explore the room. He quickly found his favorite toy, a feather, and began to toss it around. It was heart wrenching to see him search for it, when it was right in front of him, but when he found it he would toss it again, then search again. He found a ball with a bell in it and chased that all over the room. It was an easy toy to find. His siblings gingerly followed him and joined in. Mother cringed in the corner, wanting her kittens to hide near her.. But Arthur was having too much fun. Mother cats body language clearly stated We are not amused, hence her name, Victoria.

Arthur grooms his siblings and tries to comfort his mother by patting her face and licking her nose. He snuggles with his family but quickly leaves when the foster mother enters the room. He runs to her without hesitation, as if he could see where she was, and tries to climb up her leg.

He is one of the happiest, friendliest little kittens we have ever had.

Arthur will need to go to a home with one of his siblings or his mother, or with another nurturing animal. A quiet orderly home without small children, steep uncarpeted stairs or balconies is ideal because Arthur will have to use memory, touch and smell to navigate.

A very special book which is uncanny in its parallel.