# Barn rescue



## CrystalandMoose (Sep 14, 2010)

Hi, my names Amanda ( I don't believe i've introduced myself properly yet). I graduated from college last year and during my senior year I adopted two kittiens, Moose and Crystal. 
The funny thing is that I've always considered myself a dog person, but it's really true what they say- your animals chose you. How that happened goes as such: I had been working with my friend, Katie, for about a year while I was making my way through college. I knew that she was an avid horseback rider and wanted to try it for myself. So she had me come with her to ride her horse one day. She kept her horse on this farm of a local family. She paid them to keep her horse cared for (rent, really) and I was excited to go see him. When I got there though, there were dozens of cats around the barn. I had heard Katie complain about the owners before but I didn't really understand what she was upset about. Then I did. The owners of barn fed the cats, which to me means that they recognized them as their pets. Maybe that's just my personal belief but I stick to it. However, they refused to fed them on a regular basis to "keep the mouse population down". Yes, they didn't fed them because they were afraid that would mean they would be too full to chase mice. Even before I owned cats, I rolled my eyes at this. After all, a cat will chase a mouse regardless. It is a role of a hunter. Once I got to the barn, I saw that a female cat had just given birth to a litter of kittens. She had then dissapeared, whether abandoning them or if she had died, I don't know. I didn't go there with the intention of adopting a pet but I just could help them. They were so small and helpless. There were only three left from the orginal litter when I saw them for the first time. I decided to take all three and come back for them in a few days once I had the proper accommodations for them. 
However, I came back three days later to find that one of the remaining kittens had already died. Really, it killed me. Had I taken the three kittens orginally I might have been able to save all of their lives. At that point I decided to take them then and there. I was scared to leave them any longer. Here is the part that really upset me though- the owners of the barn were reluctant to give me the smallest of the two (who I would eventually name Moose). They said their son thought he was cute and wanted to keep him. I can't express how upset I was about this. They had no intention to care for him, take him to the vet, even feed him but they didn't want me to have him because their son found him cute despite the fact he didn't really have much of an interest in the care of the kitten. They eventually changed their minds though and I took both kittens home that day. I had to give them a bath right away, which let me tell you they were not happy about. I had no choice they, between the dirt and fleas that were on them they really needed it. Taking them to the vet was no picnic for them either. They had a very bad case of worms, esp. Crystal. They had been on no regular diet since they were born. I'm not going to lie and saw it was a walk in the park. The first month was maddening, frustrating, and tiresome. I never stopped worrying about them, not once during the day. I read everything I could, talked to vets, talked to other cat owners in hopes that I would make a good caregiver towards them. They had terrible digestive disorders as I tried to get them adjusted to a regular diet. 
Despite everything though, I could go back to this: When I got them home for the first time and bathed them, they were truly unhappy. They cried and I had no idea what to do to make them feel better. I sat on the floor of the kitchen in complete disarray. Baby Moose walked up to me slowly then and licked my leg once. He climbed into my lap after that and fell fast asleep. I wrapped a warm blanket around him and Crystal came over as well after that. I'm telling you, it was worth it.


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

What a lovely story! I'm sure Crystal and Moose will be much happier now that they live in a safe, loving home. And, you're right, having them around is worth all of the work and the worrying we often go through. They pay you back over and over.


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