The Triplets - Our Cat Rescue Story

by Matt
(Boise, ID)

Last summer I noticed a family of feral cats behind my office. Their was Mama, Dad, and 5

precious baby kitties. When they were about ten weeks old we caught the babies using humane traps. My wife and I adopted the three orange tabby's. We named them Harmony, Tiger, and Louis.

Louis was the first kitty I brought home. We put him in our upstairs bathroom with lots of toys. He was terrified without his siblings and my wife insisted that I bring home at lease one more kitty. The next one I caught was Tiger.


When I brought Tiger home she was initially very frightened but when she found her brother I can only imagine the joy the two of them felt. The last kitty to come home was Harmony. It was difficult to catch her as she was her mamas last kitten as her mama was a very protective and loving parent.

After they were all home I spent hours every night and every day helping them to socialize. At times it was very frustrating but every time they would take a step forward the reward far exceeded the frustration. They were so happy together and so appreciative of everything we did for them. Just as our babies were blossoming tragedy struck.

My very handsome little boy Louis was diagnosed with an enlarged heart and also was in congestive heart failure. My little boy fought so hard to stay with his sisters but the day after his diagnosis our little prince went to the Rainbow Bridge. This was devastating to say the least. The hardest part was watching our little girls looking all over for their brother.

After a couple of weeks my wife and I took our girls into the vet to have them x-rayed to see if they were ok. Unfortunately they too had enlarged hearts. Tiger's was the most severely enlarged. The outlook was not good for either of them. I refused to let my baby girls go without a fight.

The doctor thought we should attempt to give them massive doses of Taurine in the hope that a deficiency may have been the cause. For the next three months we gave the girls their medicine twice a day. Finally the day of reckoning was upon us and it was time to have the girls x-rayed again. After minutes that seemed like hours we found out that both of their hearts were getting smaller and that the treatment was working!

Their brother had saved his sisters lives. He was a hero kitty. I will still have to continue the treatment but a little lost sleep is a small price to pay for the joy of seeing my little princesses grow up.

update on my girls
by: Matt

1 year and 1 month from the day that we found out both of our daughters had the same affliction that took their brothers life we had Tiger spayed and she went through the surgery amazingly well. Her sister Harmony was spayed in october. It is incredible what they have endured in their short lives. They were born to a starving feral mother. Then they were told they would be lucky to live 6 months. But despite all that they are alive and well and beautiful as ever.
update on our girls
by: Matt

I wanted to give an update on the health of our beautiful little girls. My Wife and I had Harmony re-xrayed this past weekend and we were given wonderful news! The Doctor brought us back into the Xray room to review the films she had taken. Much to our delight I saw the picture of a perfectly shaped little heart. The doctor said that if she didn't know Harmony's history that she would say her heart is perfectly normal. We will take her sister Tiger in a couple of months to be x-rayed. We are waiting a little longer for her as her heart was bigger that her Sis's heart and will take a little longer to heal. We are so proud of our girls. Time after time they defy the odds.
Yeah!!!!

Great news :) Kate
The triplets
by: Tracy

How nice u had Mama kitty spayed and fixed up a house for her. There are stray cats here that have to have had a home because they are so friendly. I don't know how anyone can abandon a cat. I know sometimes cats just get out and they get a taste of the outside and don't want to come back in, but that happens a lot with cats who are not fixed. This lady who volunteers for protectors of animals came and took 2 of the friendly cats. They went to the vet and are waiting to get a forever home. The volunteer also fosters cats so she takes cats home also. She is a blessing. She has done a wonderful thing having these cats here fixed, shots and medical attention. Thank God for people like her. I love all the kitties. They all know me because I have been feeding here for 4 years now, but there is still a few who will not let me pet them, but they come closer to me than ever before. Some will just stay feral I guess, but so many have learned to trust me and I have fell in love with a few and when they passed on due to illness it broke my heart. I wish I could afford to buy a house and take them all with me...I wish I could win the lotto and start my own kitty rescue!
Again thank you for sharing your kitty story with us! I love hearing happy stories!

The Triplets
by: Matt

I wanted to add that we had mama kitty spayed and she has her own kitty house complete with warm blankets, toys, and a kitty bed. She greets me every morning and even gets upset with me if I am delayed in bringing her kitty breakfast. (fresh food, water, and kitty treats) I think at some point in the past she must have been someone's cat and they abandoned her. She won't let me pet her but she sits about four feet away from me while I replenish her house. I think she likes hearing about how well her baby girls are doing. I also wanted to mention that my mother adopted the other two kittens and they are very much enjoying life as pampered in door kitties.

The Triplets
by: Tracy

Thank you for sharing your story.My 2 cats are also rescue cats. Got both when they were just kittens outside of my apt. building. Bootsie is 5 and Bonnie is 3 and they adore each other!

I cry whenever I hear of a cats passing. When Bootsie got real sick a couple of years ago I was told he did have a enlarged heart, but I didn't have to worry about it right now..Bootsie was real sick with a Resp. infection 2 years ago and Thank God after 2 days at the vet he came home on meds and it took another week before he was himself.I pray Bootsie will be okay. Thank you for rescuing those kitties..you are wonderful!

I also feed the stray/feral cats outside . I have been doing that for 4 years now. I also got some wonderful volunteers to do trap, neuter, and return for 13 of the cats that they could catch so they were fixed, got their shots and any medical tx. they needed. Our Bonnie is from a Mama cat who just keeps having kittens so she is one that did get fixed..Thank Goodness for these wonderful ladies who help the kitties!

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