One morning in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a woman awoke with a yawn. You know how some people make that little sound when they yawn and stretch? She isn't one of them. So to hear a similar sound chased the sleep right out of her eyes.
Then she realized that what she was hearing was the mewing of a kitten. It cried and cried as she searched her house, trying to locate the place from where the sound was coming. But to no avail.
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Desperately trying to find him, she went outside where she discovered his hiding place. He was underneath her own house!
"I could hear a kitten crying but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I searched high and low in the house until the cries sounded desperate so I went outside and realized he was under the house," Kelli recollects.
Because the kitten had quit crying by the time she found him, Kelli was terrified that she might have been too late. He certainly looked dead.
"When I found him I couldn't tell if he was alive. I started to feel panicked once I realized that he wasn't meowing any more. So I brought him straight to the vet. They said he was less than a week old and had been abandoned by his mother."
Nothing in her life had prepared Kelli to take on raising a motherless kitten, but she jumped right into it anyway. She endured many sleepless nights as Oscar was first fed with a syringe (because he was so small and weak) and then a bottle. Finally, he started gaining weight and soon it was obvious he was out of the woods. "Glad the days of waking up every two hours to feed are over… But I surely miss this mini version of him."
The tuxedo kitten grew into a beautiful boy who loves his mom enormously. "He is super spunky, likes to act like the man of the house. But when no one is around he still acts like my baby and cuddles up to me," Kelli says.
Coincidently, about eight months later, another kitten was found under another house in Prince Rupert. It was too much for Kelli. She knew the new kitten was destined for her. "She was found under another house in Prince Rupert. After meeting Isabelle, I knew she would be the perfect companion for Oscar. She was very timid at first, but as you'll see, she warmed up to Oscar and me in no time."
Although Oscar wasn't sure he wanted to share his mom, ultimately they became inseparable. "They would play together and eventually became snuggle buddies. Now you can catch them running all around the house together," Kelli laughs.
Oscar is two years old now, and Kelli loves reminiscing about his story. "I'll never forget the day I found him abandoned under my house... I am so glad I heard him calling for help and found him just in time... I love him to pieces," Kelli says tearfully.
I think it's pretty amazing that Kelli is now mom to two "throwaway" kittens abandoned under houses not far from each other. They make a nice family, the three of them. Watch Oscar's video below and tell us what you think in the comments!
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