I received this from reader Michael: it’s an adorable cat who needs a home in the NYC area. If you’re looking for an affectionate felid, this one fills the bill. And, if you adopt him, I’ll send you an autographed hardback of WEIT. Now I don’t want you to adopt this cat just to get a book; you have to really want this little guy and the adoption has to last and be vouched for. Michael writes:
The attached kitteh photos are of a little fellow who was found on the mean streets of Brooklyn, NY and is in need of a home! If you were able to make him one of your featured kittehs, I hoped that a maybe, just maybe, a kind reader of yours might be able to take him in. I can help get him to anyone in the general NYC area.
Sadly, there are many stray cats in Brooklyn, but most of them want little to do with people. This guy, however, came right over late one night and cried for food and attention. Being so friendly, it was easy to scoop him into a kitty carrier and take him in. It seemed to be his goal from the start to find some soft-hearted folks and win them over with his charms. He immediately started nuzzling and promptly went to sleep in my lap. He is honestly one of the most friendly, gentle, and affectionate kitties I’ve ever met. He knew just how to use a litter pan and even let me trim his claws without any fuss.
He has already been to the Humane Society clinic where he got neutered and got his first round of shots and tests (and received a clean bill of health!). You can see him wearing his cone in one of the attached photos. It has since come off and he’s gotten his energy back. We estimate he is about 8 months old and he loves to play. Unfortunately, a cat who is already a resident here is NOT happy with having him, so he has spent most of this week’s time stuck in a single room. Mostly he seems happy with his new warm and dry situation, but he does get antsy for some more space and would love more company. He adores people and dislikes being left alone.
He has no name as of yet, but if one of your readers would be interested in adopting him, I’d like to suggest Jerry as an excellent name!
Anyone can contact me at foundkitty@yahoo.com
Here are a couple of videos of him, just to show how sweet he is. One of his first day inside and another of him getting a sponge bath. (He was still rather dirty at this point)
Not to tell you (Michael) what to do, but: how long has he been around the older cat, and how bad is the reaction? We’ve introduced kittens to older cats numerous times, and within a couple of weeks the hissing and spitting have stopped, and they’ve become at least tolerant, often affectionate companions. Mind you, we’ve always had multiple cats, thus the incumbent was already used to the idea of sharing the territory.
What a sweet little boy. I hope he finds a good home.
I’m impressed by the fact that he seems to enjoy the sponge bath. My Sophie would have gone straight for my jugular if I’d tried that with her.
I didn’t know that cats had ‘cones of shame’ too…
Hahahahahahaha.
This kitty cat was someone’s pet. That’s the only way he’d be so affectionate and calm around people.
I agree with the first poster. If you’re interested in keeping him, your older cat will get used to him.
Otherwise, I hope you find a good home for him soon. Alas, I am 1200 miles away and have my limit of feline companions already.
Good luck!
Bruce Fogle, in “The Cat’s Mind”, reports research on feline socialization done (iirc) at the University of Alabama. Conclusion: kittens become socialized to humans between the ages of 2 and 8 weeks. The 8-week mark coincides with weaning, when a kitten is ready to leave mom for a new home.
Implications: If you decide to acquire a kitten, get one from a household with children. Such a kitten will have gotten plenty of handling during the critical period. (Fogle makes this point.)
And: If a cat isn’t socialized to humans by the age of 8 weeks, it is a lost cause. (I’m sure exceptions exist.)
Conclusion: this kitty was somebody’s pet early in life.
That is the easiest going cat I have seen in a long time. My guy would not have tolerated a bath like that. I hope he finds a good home. I love cats.
I wish I were closer to NYC. What a sweetie. Good on you for rescuing him and getting him some vet care.
I bet, too, that the other kitteh would get used to Jerry in time. They’re territorial, so it takes a while, but the aggression would likely die down and turn into something between tolerance and love. Might be worth a try — plus, if you keep him, maybe *you* can get the book! Then again, none of us know your cats as well as you do.
Either way, best of luck with the little guy!
If I lived within a hundred miles of NYC, I’d swap my cat, Evil, for this one. I’d be getting a cat upgrade, and the damn signed book.
Is this a new cynical side of you?
SQUEEEEEE I’m melting, the power of cute is overwelming me. If I’d be living near NYC, I’d adopt him at once. Alas I’m in Germany and to be honest, at the moment I don’t really have time for a kitty, too much travel and sometimes at really short notice.
This is one seriously sweet kitty, like Leslie said, he was most likely someone’s pet. But with all the cat lovers here, he’ll find a new home soon.
Can’t take cats in this apartment, unfortunately. But it still got me thinking, are there other was to score an autographed copy of WEIT? 🙂
My dad, a biologist and pharmacology professor in Pittsburgh, got a copy as a birthday gift from one of his students. He’s unlikely to have time to read it any time soon, but I immediately grabbed it and read it cover to cover. I loved it. It was the best tome on evolution for people outside the scientific field I’ve read.
It also launched a great debate with my aunt, who noticed me reading the book while I was visiting her over Christmas. She’s very religious and believes in creationism — or, more specifically, divinely guided evolution. I agreed to read one of her books in return for her agreeing to read this one, but we haven’t fulfilled that deal yet.
Thanks so much to Jerry (the human) for posting this! I am the finder and keeper of this kitty.
I agree that he was probably treated as a pet before. What happens around here is that many of the stores will have a “store cat” – but they don’t get it fixed, allow it to come and go, and eventually it runs off to mate. The females return pregnant and have their kittens, who are probably treated with affection until they too run off. I suspect this guy came from some kind of situation like that. I try to do some gentle education on this subject whenever I have the opportunity.
I’m aware also that the resident cat would probably come to tolerate the new-comer in time, but I would also like to keep the kitty population here at its current level (2, one seems to be more intolerant than the other). The apartment isn’t huge and the kitties have no outdoor space.
Of course I won’t put this guy back out on the street, so he can stay here until a home can be found for him. If this turns permanent, perhaps I should try to claim the book… but that seems like cheating somehow…
That’s how our 3rd kitty Fiona, came to us. We had rescued a number of cats and had always found homes for them. The person we had in mind for Fifi backed out at the last minute, and we wound up keeping her, but with 2 other cats already, it took years for them to all settle into a balance we could live with. Your results may vary. Coincidentally, it’s Fiona Miriam MacBean’s finding day today, which we celebrate as her birthday. We’ve had her 9 years, and figure she was around a year old when she showed up on our doorstep.
Awww, what a sweet foundling. Looks like he hadn’t had a decent meal for a while. How gratifying for the finders and best of luck with finding a permanent home!
It definitely seems like he’s been around people. I assume the vet checked for a microchip? Although it’s extremely unlikely there’d be one there pre-neuter. And I guess there’s no “lost kitten” signs up in the ‘hood? I live in the Village and would definitely be interested, but my two cats also were not happy when I brought home a little kitten I found crying under some construction supplies near LaGuardia Street. He was so loud I named him Howler Monkey, but the guy at the shelter changed it to Marlon, thinking the name Howler Monkey may have been a barrier to adoption. He was probably right. But I still think Howler Monkey was a great name. Jerry’s a people name, not a cat name. How about Gargamel? Or Gumbo. Jambalaya? I’m hungry.
What a gorgeous boy! And such a lucky boy to have found more caring owners. I guess the previous owners weren’t too responsible to have let him out onto the streets of Brooklyn, and still not neutered at 8 months. I too have recently tried to introduce a new kitten (Lucy, 6 months) to an older kitteh (Millie, 2 years). Millie’s companion Huxley was killed a few months ago. It is 3.5 weeks now since Lucy arrived and Millie is still all hisses and growls. She hates Lucy and she hates me too. I’m starting to worry that this may not resolve happily. I’m using Feliway, but Millie only comes inside for meals now so I don’t think she’s getting the benefits.
🙁 Have you talked to your vet about Millie’s hostility?
Yes, I did after the first week, and she said not to worry – that it can talk many weeks. I think that it is time to talk to the vet again though. I think she said that the cats ould have to be together for at least 5 or 6 weeks before any possibility of calming medication for Millie.
It’s not complete doom because Millie is still coming in and sleeping on my bed with me at night (I put Lucy to bed in another room). Sometimes she sits there stiffly but sometimes she purrs and curls up and will let me rub her ears. Before Lucy came she would sit and watch me in the evenings and give me the half-closed-eyes of contentment and I would only have to look at her and she would purr. Once in bed, she used to love her ear rubs and she would lick my face and purr like a little machine. None of that now. I guess she can smell Lucy on me. Her face has aged and she now has a menancing stare. It doesn’t help that Lucy often stalks and ambushes her inside the house.
So sorry you’re still dealing with this, Gayle! It does sound as if you (or rather, Millie) are making baby steps toward detente. It can certainly take a long time, IME. Again, best of luck!
Oh dear…that does sound heartbreaking.
Can’t the vet give her some oxytocin or E or something? A love drug would solve everything! All she needs is to love both you and Lucy…so simple, so difficult…
Aww, he seems like such a sweet boy. If he can’t stay with you, I hope you can find a good home for him.
I’d happily adopt him if I were able, but I 1) live in a dorm that doesn’t allow pets other than fish and 2) live on the west coast.
Might I suggest Wallace as a possible name, after the too often forgotten codiscoverer of evolution?
Anybody looking for a cat in Philly? I picked up a sweet little longhair tabby girl recently, under similar circumstances. We’ve got three cats already, and my other half is completely opposed to the idea of keeping a fourth. We both have allergies and asthma, and the new cat is also a bit iffy about other critters. I personally would love to keep her, because she’s generally adorable and friendly and playful, but I’m pretty sure that she, my other cats, and my SO will all be happier when we find her a home of her own. The blog post and craigslist post I made about here are linked below:
http://icarusswims.blogspot.com/2011/04/thumbelina.html
http://philadelphia.craigslist.org/pet/2346369993.html
Adorable cat. Wish I could take it. I took a copy of an evolution book (this was before WEIT) into the faculty conference room of an excellent high school in a university town, when I was subbing. One of the teachers kept his Promise Keepers hat in there, so I left the book next to him. He wasn’t a happy man, but it stimulated a great discussion with the others. Apparently, this alpha male liked to keep the conversation off of anything he didn’t believe!
Nicely done! 😉