Lola & Billy (From Ferals to Friendly)

by Mary
(High Point , NC)

I have my little "LOLA" laying beside my keyboard.

Lola was a VERY feral kitten 2 years ago when I was called by a lady to tell me she found a litter of kittens in her garage and the kittens and the mother cat was all frozen to death except baby Lola and her brother Billy.

They was barely hanging on to life.

I scooped them into my coat and off to the vet at 8 p.m at night hoping to save them.

On the way to the vet I sustained many bites and scratches from them as being feral they was not only fighting for their life but fighting me as they feared me as a human,



The vet said they had little hope to survive as being feral....they would not trust a human to bottle feed them and raise them to a weaning age after losing their mother at only 2 weeks old. He said I would never be able to bottle feed them.

He sugested that we euthanise them.

I looked at those tiny little wild cats and felt so bad that they had lost their mother and litter mates from the horrible death of freezing to death.

I could NOT allow him to euthanise them.

I decided to take them on and was determined to socialize them if it took me 5 years.

Well, in the first year I got more battle wounds than I care to remember and just to hold them I had to bundle them tightly in a blanket to keep them from ripping me open but we made it through bottle weaning and then they was loosed in my home to learn to live and trust domestic cats and me " their human".



Billy socialized within 8 months, allowing me and my daughter to cuddle him and love on him but Lola was not so trusting.

She would be fine around the other cats but would NOT allow me or anyone to hold her at all.

She is 2 years old now and just LAST WEEK she crawled onto my computer desk and laid down at my keyboard and I said " Oh my Lola......are you learning that your mama loves you and will not harm you finally?

All of a sudden she crawled onto my lap and laid down and fell asleep in my lap!!!!!

The FIRST extended show of trust from her in her entire life of 2 years.

I broke into tears and said " All the hard work and bites and scratches was worth this very moment.

It took this little fire cracker 2 years to learn TRUST and to want her human to show her love but I have waited this long and it was well worth it.

I wouldnt change a thing.

Lola is finally a " Mama's Girl" Billy is just a " Love Bug".

She and Billy are living proof that some ferals can be socialized and are worth saving.


Mary

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