Pursuit of a Ninja cat

by Dee
(Bay Area, California)

One Friday night back in 2008 my husband and I were headed out to dinner when he spotted a little black kitten playing close to a busy road. It was like a scene from a Disney movie with this tiny black kitten surrounded by little birds all playing together. We were determined to help the little cutie and we spent the next 30 minutes trying to catch her. It wasn't easy and we lost sight of her numerous times in the surrounding bushes but every single time she disappeared she would let loose a chorus of loud meows to let us know exactly where she was hiding. After a mad dash across a deserted parking lot with both my husband and I in full pursuit we finally managed to get hold of her.

Once she was safely in my arms I was able to do a quick assessment. She was roughly 8-9 weeks old, skinny and infested with fleas and worms (both of which were easily cleared up). A quick look at her eyes showed a faint cloudy film in both. The vet told us it was a permanent condition from birth (likely due to the poor condition of the mother's health) but as our previous evening's chase showed, this little lady was able to see well enough to get around just fine. He also detected that she was partially deaf but we knew while that might be a serious issue for a feral, it shouldn't be an issue for her future life as a pampered house cat.

She was extremely quick to adjust to her new surroundings and within a few days it was like she had been raised with people all her life. In honor of her lightning moves, we decided to name her Ninja and began the potentially difficult task of finding her a great new home. Our own house was already occupied by an adult male kitty who made it quite clear he was not happy with the idea of adding to the household especially after Ninja decided his tail was her favorite new toy.

As chance would have it, we knew a couple who were interested in her. They had previous experience with cats but were without feline companionship. They were retired empty-nesters with a large house and lots of free time to play with a young energetic kitten. Basically, they were perfect.

So now, nearly three years later little Ninja has grown to a beautiful adult cat. She's spoiled rotten with love and affection which she returns in spades. Her parents thank us all the time for finding her for them but I'm just grateful that little Ninja got a happy ending to what would have been a very short life on the streets.


Comment from Kate
Fantastic story. Well done, thats one more little life saved.

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