This feature is part of our Catstomer Adoption Stories Series in companionship to our #AdoptDontShop cause promotion campaign and "Forever Home Heroes" project.
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Human Name
Matt Peet | @TheMattPeet
Manning, South carolina, United States
Cat's Name
Stitch
Tell us how you met your fur baby
My parents have an outdoor cat that was left at their house when It was a kitten. It is now grown up and this past march had a kitten. Not a whole litter, just one kitten. My parents live in the country and we have neighbors with dogs that stay outside and they like to chase their outdoor cat. We assume that's why she decided to have her baby in a tree.
We found the baby when it was just a few days old and tried to get the momma cat to take care of it in a safer place but she reluctantly put him back in the tree. 5 days after Stitch was born the momma cat came over to me while I was outside and dropped this screaming kitten at my feet. It was unusual for her to have him outside of the tree and even more so to bring him to someone. I picked it up and after I picked it up I realized he was badly hurt. He had a deep puncture wound on his neck and his chest was split open with muscle exposed.
We had no idea what to do and all of the vets were closed at that time of the evening. We put some Neosporin on the wound to try and dull the pain and he stopped screaming. We cleaned and dressed the wound and the next day we took him to the vet. They had to stitch up his chest (hence the name Stitch...) and we went and bought kitten formula, a bottle, and some other things to help out.
We would let the momma cat groom him and feed him as often as we could but had to take him away whenever she started to lick near his wound. Eventually she started staying for less and less time until she didn't really seem to have any interest in him anymore. We were still supplementing his feedings with formula but at this point we had grown to love the little guy so much that we decided to keep him.
After he got to the point where he could see, could confidently walk, and could fit into the smallest vest possible, we wanted to take him on our adventures!
We had no intention of adopting Stitch but it has all worked out great so far!
What do you wish people without cats knew about the joys of owning a cat?
If you raise them right and treat them nice as they grow up then they aren't always the steriotypical angry cats. We have another cat that is about 7 years old and he loves being held like a baby and will nudge his head into to give him kisses.
How has your cat impacted your life? How have you changed since becoming a cat-guardian?
We've been cat-guardians for a while now. We love having a little furball that wants to spend time with us. Spend lots of time holding the cat when it is little. Let it know that it is ok to be close and of course get a harness, leash, and backpack so you can take it with you!
People loved seeing our little guy on the a hiking trail with us last week!
