Durham, NC-US DEAF Solid White 12-wk FERAL kitten

[InhonorofMimi]

This little bundle of personality showed up w/a group of feral cats I feed. This colony has been spayed & neutered & vaccinated so we think a mama from another location dropped him off w/us when she could no longer take care of him. He is BEYOND adorable but has superior flight responses to people (thankfully b/c this is an apartment complex where all are NOT animal friendly) and FLEES when he SEES people, including me. I could trap him for the person who is willing to patiently show him that some people LOVE, LOVE, LOVE cats and would help re-teach him a new way of life and fun as an indoor cat.

He LOVES the other cats and tries to get close to them while they all feed. Some tolerate him, others are annoyed and swat at him which breaks my heart but he KEEPS trying to be their friend so I believe he would love to be in a home w/other cats. It's the HUMANS he would have to gradually grow accustomed to and being indoors. He LOVES to play outside and finds EVERYTHING amusing and entertaining. He is a JOY to watch and makes me SMILE and get behind in all my work by being absorbed watching his antics!

He would need to be exclusively an indoor cat due to his DEAFNESS so if you have other cats that are exclusively indoor cats he would love to join them. If you don't have any indoor pets then s/he (I don't know which) could be happy in your home also but I don't think it would work if you have cats that are indoor & outdoor.

My hope is that s/he can start to build a relationship w/a human family very soon while he is most able to make a smoother adjustment from feral to house cat. I don't think s/he will make the transition INSTANTLY but I do think his affinity for attention and love will make it possible with help from a loving, patient, gentle cat-lover caretaker.

We have named him/her Yoda-Bushi (although he will probably never HEAR it called ) as his/her little head reminds us of Yoda from Star Wars & I was told that "Bushi" means "warrior" in Japanese. In his current environment, s/he is in fight for his life in an unfriendly URBAN war zone. I hope you can make the room to love him/her and let him/her love YOU.

[Christine]

This little one sounds adorable and like he really needs someone to care. Have you thought about posting him on some special needs cats groups? If you could possibly post him with a picture (and I know that might not be easy), that always gets them more attention.

[InhonorofMimi]

Thank you Christine! This was my first stop to get the message out about Yoda-Bushi. The cat rescuer who directed me here suggested I post in a Facebook group but since I don't do fb I can't take advantage of that one. I will check into others. Is there a list of such that you could post for me to look into?

Yes, I have tried to snap pics of him/her through my screened windows looking out onto where I feed but the quality is extremely poor so it wouldn't serve much purpose. S/he can't hear but she sure does SEE me when I try to sneak up on him/her! I will keep trying for the photo. I wish video were easily acquired and uploaded because to SEE this little one try so HARD to garner POSITIVE attention from the ferals who live here is heartwarming AND heartBREAKING!!! S/he rolls back-n-forth on his back and stretches his little paws out to try to caress a potential friend. I have seen him/her gently push the WATER bowl towards a feeding cat JUST to make CONTACT w/the potential friend & just to "feel out" their reaction. When someone DOES give a sniff or doesn't HISS at him/her s/he immediately perks up and marches around with tail VERTICALLY UP IN THE AIR SOOOOO eager to let them see how happy he is to be noticed.

I would get a vet clearance for him/her if anyone is willing to take the responsibility (and the joy) of integrating him into their family of indoor cats.

[Christine]

I am posting the link to these thread on my Facebook page and hopefully people will respond and/or Share. If you Google "special needs cats" you will find several places to further post this little one. I love the description of his little personality trying to connect - he sounds so lonely! I hope someone steps up along with you for him. Keep trying to get a picture and I will add it to my posts. I am also going to post him to Charlie to the Rescue. Maybe Critters (another moderator) will post him to her networks of special needs cats too.

[InhonorofMimi]

Thanks again, Christine! I saw the http://www.disabledanimal.com site mentioned here and will post to that site also. I think Yoda-B would bring so much joy to a great family and of course he deserves a great family.