I’m delighted to bring you part two of my wonderful story about my dear friend and animal lover, Kate Thompson.
In my earlier post, I shared some of Kate’s animal rescue stories, from raccoons to squirrels to a sweet dog. Though Kate loves all animals, I think cats hold a particularly special place in her heart. Kate has shared her heart and home with so many cats, I thought it best to dedicate an entire post to Kate and her beloved cats.
Here is the heartwarming story about Chester . . .
Kate and her ex-husband used to travel north once a year to a small town between North Bay and Sudbury, to stay in a cottage community on Deer Lake. One summer when they arrived for their week-long vacation and were unpacking the car, Kate saw an orange and white cat approaching. He came right to up to her and was really friendly. Like all animal lovers, Kate wondered if the kitty had a home. She soon discovered that people in the adjoining trailer park had moved away, leaving behind the poor cat.
Kate’s first instinct was to bring the cat into the cottage. But she had brought along her own cat and didn’t feel comfortable doing so. Instead, she started feeding him, sharing her cat’s food. However, the cat was more interested in eating Kate’s Cheetos, so she started calling him Chester.
Though Kate considered bringing him back home with her, she first decided to canvas the people in nearby cottages to see if anyone wanted to add a lovely kitty to their family.
One of Kate’s cottage neighbours was a super sweet family, with a boy and a girl around five and seven. Kate made friends with them and soon broached the idea of Chester. To her relief, they seemed slightly interested— definitely not a hard no, anyway. Kate offered to go into town to buy a cat carrier and some supplies for them. Much to her surprise, the dad decided to come along, and when it came time to buying the supplies, he pulled out his wallet. It was then Kate knew Chester had found his new forever family. Kate is still friends with the family on Facebook, and although sadly they lost Chester a couple of years ago, he brought them so much love. They often sent her pictures and told her what a wonderful cat he turned out to be.
Though Kate couldn’t keep Chester as her own, she did end up keeping so many others. Spooky was one of those fortunate cats. When Kate first met Spooky, she already had been sharing her home with two black cats for a few years. Kate wonders if Spooky saw the other two cats laying in the bay window and knew he, too, would be welcome. He started showing up at her place a few days before Halloween and Kate instantly knew his name had to be Spooky—though he was anything but. Kate says he was the friendliest cat. The relationship began as many of Kate’s relationships with animals do—feeding him and putting a cat carrier outside, made cozy and comfy with soft bedding.
Spooky came whenever Kate called for him, and after only two days, would happily be picked up and cuddled. He was so friendly Kate thought he must belong to somebody. She called the local Humane Society to find out if they’d had any reports of missing cats. The receptionist said there hadn’t been any black cats reported missing, and if Kate was planning on giving him a home, she should do so immediately, because people can be cruel, especially around Halloween to black cats. Horrified at the thought, she scooped him up and brought him into the house. For the safety of her other two cats, Spooky spent the weekend in Kate’s spare room, happily receiving lots of cuddles.
First thing Monday morning, Kate took Spooky to her vet to have him checked out. As soon as she was given the all clear, she started introducing the newest member of the family to the others. It didn’t take long for everyone to meet. The other two cats were very interested in who had come into their home, and Spooky just wanted to make friends. Once he was allowed into the “general population”, he would climb into bed with the other two and insisted on cuddling them. Before long he had made himself very welcome.
Sadly, Spooky passed away in 2019, at the young age of eight. He will be forever missed. Somehow Kate always knew she wouldn’t have a lot of time with him, but that didn’t stop her from giving her heart to this special and loving cat. She fondly describes Spooky as “an old soul and my angel.”
I was fortunate to watch one of my favourite Kate-cat rescue stories play out first hand. It happened about seven months after Spooky joined Kate’s family. A client of hers had stumbled upon two abandoned kittens. Knowing Kate’s willingness to help animals, she brought them to Kate’s place. Though Kate had rescued many cats, she’d never rescued ones so young, but she knew someone who had! Her rescue friend came over and offered helpful advice. Kate learned the kittens were about 12 days old. She immediately went out and bought bottles and replacement milk, and began the task of bottle feeding them every three hours. Kate doesn’t have kids, so this was the closest she ever came to feeding babies, and describes it as ‘exhausting’.
At first, she thought they were doing okay, but after a day they were exhibiting signs of severe dehydration, and their tiny little bodies were almost lifeless. Kate rushed them to her vet, and was disappointed to discover her vet was not as kind and sympathetic as Kate had thought. The vet didn’t have much time for the kittens as they were “just barn kittens” and “don’t have a very high survival rate”. The vet gave them subcutaneous fluids, and sent Kate home telling her if it didn’t work she could try Gatorade.
Unwilling to give up on the kittens, she immediately called her rescue friends, and they directed her to the vet they use. Kate rushed to get the kittens to the vet before the clinic closed. The vet immediately put them on an IV drip, and sent Kate home with the IV and drip equipment, so she could continue with fluids for the next 24 hours. Kate says she will be forever grateful for Dr. Dev and the Fourth Line Animal Hospital in Oakville, because they saved her babies.
Kate already had a house full of cats, and thought at most she would be a foster mom for these sweet kittens until they were old enough to leave home. No one was surprised that Kate couldn’t part with them and almost eight years later they are still her babies!
As if this story wasn’t wonderful enough, Spooky made it even more special. From the moment the kittens came into Kate’s house, Spooky was desperate to see them. So desperate, he actually needed veterinary treatment because he kept pushing his leg under the door and damaged his paw.
When the kittens were old enough to meet Spooky, Kate wasn’t surprised at how gentle he was with them. Spooky quietly walked up to one of them, nudged the kitten onto his back and started cleaning him. From that day on, Spooky was both their mom and their dad.
It had been quite a while since Kate had left the house, as she was worried about leaving the kittens alone. But when she finally did go out, she left Spooky in charge and he took his role as caregiver very seriously. He made sure the kittens didn’t get into any trouble. Anytime they would roughhouse, he would referee. It was quite a sight to see! Spooky took care of those babies right up until the day he passed away. He is, and will always be missed.
A couple of months ago, Kate was out fixing her garden when a sweet little cat ran up to her, rubbed up against her legs and purred. Kate noticed the kitty was limping. Being the kind and caring person she is, Kate went inside, grabbed a carrier and set it in front of the cat. Amazingly, the kitty went right in.
Kate took her to the vet. Good thing too, as it turned out she had a pus-filled uterus and was in critical condition. On top of all this, the cat was FIV positive, which meant Kate wouldn’t be able to bring her home after the surgery, because it would put her cats’ health in danger. With no other option, the animal control officer was called. They picked up the cat and took her to a local rescue, where her she would continue to be cared for. Even though this story didn’t have the ending Kate hoped it would, her decision to step in and take the cat to the vet was the right thing to do. The vet told her the cat would have died a painful death within the next twenty-four hours had she not been brought to the clinic.
Kate has shed many tears for this kitty. As all animal lovers, she wishes she could have done more. As heartbreaking as this must have been for Kate, I hope she is comforted knowing her loving actions at least saved this cat from a lonely, painful death, and possibly allowed the cat a chance to live a happy and healthy life.
Now we come to Kate’s most recent rescue story . . .
Kate and her husband live in a small rural town in Indiana. Their house is nestled up along the forest edge. Kate often sees stray cats come and go, but early last winter, one started coming around and became a regular at her house.
Kate says these situations always start off the same way. Her husband is a great guy with a huge heart, but he always leads with “don’t feed them”, which then it turns into “ok but only feed them at the edge of the property”, and finally . . . “Okay, but keep them out of the garage”
So began the relationship between Kate and this new cat. Kate describes her as a Maine Coon, only quite a bit smaller than your typical Maine Coon. Kate called her Boujee because she was just that! Fancy, fancy, fancy!
Kate had been feeding her for about four months, when one day she noticed Boujee had a friend in tow. This friend was a pitiful looking little cat. He looked so sad and had these ears that folded all the way down. Kate wondered if he might be a Scottish Fold, or maybe the cauliflower ears were a result of many fights.
This new visitor would just follow Boujee around and hide when he heard any noise whatsoever, so Kate never got a chance to look at him up close. She started feeding both of them, realizing the second cat was hiding in the rafters of her garage. After a month or so, the weather started to getting warmer, and Kate was able to spend more time outside. This gave her the opportunity to slowly gain the trust of the cats. Boujee’s friend was beginning to venture closer to the house, still keeping a distance, but looking longingly in the windows.
Kate eventually got close enough to see a nasty cut on his neck. It was about a three-inch open wound, going right up into his jaw line. Even from a distance, Kate could tell it was bad.
Her chance to help him came one day when she was bringing food out for the cats and he came right up to her. Kate knew this might be her only opportunity to get him. She brought out her well-used cat carrier, lined it with a bed and a blanket, ready to put food in there the next day.
Shockingly, the following day, she was able to get him into the carrier. The cat hated it, but he needed to go straight to the vet. This all happened during the Covid-19 quarantine time so the protocol at the animal hospital was to pull up to the door and telephone the clinic. A veterinary technician would then come out to the car, take the carrier inside, and call to discuss the prognosis and treatment.
Kate was right, the cut was a bad one. The vet stitched up the cut, but that wasn’t the end of the treatment. Kate paid to have the cat neutered, treated for fleas and lice, and have some dental work done.
Kate has her own hair salon, and due to the quarantine, she’s currently closed. As such, she was able to bring Ewok, as he is now called, back to the shop for recovery. Ewok was terrified of course, and hid under a cabinet for three days, only coming out to eat after Kate was gone. Kate laid out cat beds, a litter box, blankets, towels, and everything she could think of to make Ewok comfortable.
On the morning of day four, the magical moment Kate had been hoping for happened. She was sitting on the floor of her salon, as she had been for a few hours every day to get him comfortable with her—and this time he finally came out. Ewok came right to her hand and let her pet him. Every day since, he’s become more loving and more trusting.
After about a week, he started sitting in Kate’s lap. He loves to be loved. To Kate’s absolute delight, her husband agreed that once Ewok was cleared by the vet, he could live with them and their other three cats.
Kate says she is grateful for this little cat, who has become such a light in this time that is so dark and uncertain for everyone. Every day, she posts about Ewok’s progress on Facebook, and every day hundreds of people respond with positive comments and reactions, saying that he really has brightened up this time for them.
As for Boujee… she seems quite content living outside. She has a lot of protection around Kate’s house, in their garage and also the screened-in porch. And one weekend, her husband built a fantastic cat house with a magnetic door so that Boujee could be safe from nighttime predators. She wears a magnetic collar so only she can get in and out.
Kate wishes she could save them all, but she does continue to give Boujee love, food, and does her very best to keep her safe. And who knows what’s to come in the future… Kate says her husband seems to be getting quite fond of Boujee, so maybe they will have another house mate before long.
When asked the one thing she would change in the world, Kate’s response is, “I would just wish for everyone to be kind.”
To follow Kate and Ewok, please check out Ewok’s very own Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ewokthekitty/
Ewok Update: Twelve days after Ewok’s rescue, he moved into his forever home. He was an absolute angel going into the carrier for his trip to the vet, got a clean bill of health, and his transition is going very well. He made friends with Kate’s husband, but the friendship with the other cats will have to go at bit slower. Knowing Kate’s history of bringing cats into her family, I can’t imagine it becoming anything less than a full success.
Anitha Rao-Robinson 