The world can be a big, scary place.
Dangers may be lurking around every corner.
Beasts prowl the night shadows unseen.
For small animals who wander onto one gated property, this place is more dangerous than most.
It is the exact opposite for the larger predators who reside here for THEIR protection.
Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary in Tampa, Florida, is home to over 80 abused and abandoned big cats.
One Little Feral Kitten Discovered The Best Place To Find BIG Cat Loving Rescuers, And The PURRfect Home!
And in this case, one feral kitten.
Staff and volunteers had begun hearing tiny meows coming from the shrubbery on November 20th, 2018.
They finally spotted a diluted tortie hanging around the sanctuary.
Fortunately, it was seen by the break room and food prep area, NOT near one of the larger cat habitats!
Volunteers, including Cat Man Chris Poole, human servant to “celebricats” Cole and Marmalade, joined in the trapping efforts. He had just donated 300 pounds of Weruva cat food for a feral colony next to Big Cat Rescue. Staff approached him, told him of the kitten and he immediately ran home to get a kitten trap.
The goal was to trap the feral beauty, have it vaccinated and spayed or neutered.
Depending on the demeanor of the feline, they’d find it a home or release it in a safer feral colony.
But the kitten was apparently very street smart, and kept avoiding them.
Only frustrating INCHES separated their fingertips and bringing the kitten to safety.
Chris, media producer Afton Tasler, and many other volunteers spent a week setting live traps.
Propping the door open, they attempted to get it used to the cage WITHOUT being trapped inside.
They tried to lure the kitten in with the Weruva food since the high quality morsels usually can’t be resisted!
Using a recording, they played the sound of a mother cat calling to her kittens to draw it in.
Finally, on November 23rd, Afton and senior keeper, Stephanie Chaiser, were successful using the live trap!
The little girl was named Marshelle, a mix of the ladies’ middle names.
Other than having a few fleas, she was in good condition.
She was given flea treatment and de-wormer medication, as is protocol with many trapped strays/ferals.
Marshelle must have known she was surrounded by cat lovers.
Her first time being held by Afton, she didn’t try to fight it much like some ferals do.
She’d be fostered by Afton, who had high hopes the girl would soon turn into a love bug.
Socializing feral cats can be a long, slow process, but is absolutely possible!
In this case, Marshelle treated her foster mom to dinner-time purrs the very next evening!
https://www.facebook.com/AftonTaslerBCR/videos/365760790846280/?__tn__=kCH-R&eid=ARB5Zv-5et-4TzKJUKyHuPy0Ez6umQRbW6Bc9AK8iwiOz8mLc98PWglFoJF-zZKSk7pM8OBYzamnUQKp&hc_ref=ARQgPBbyUQkXsVQrsfwUxUQBme0SzgKhqu3jwIVmjTsEbYFmImVSCWLXjsou1i6nTgs&fref=nf
On November 26th, Marshelle was happily cleared of fleas and passed her fecal, ear and SNAP testing!
A couple of months old, she weighed in at 2 pounds, so she’ll be spayed soon.
This is the minimum weight in the U.S to have kittens fixed.
This clean bill of health meant she’d be able to visit with the other kittens in the Kitten Cabana at BCR too.
Here they help the Humane Society of Tampa Bay foster and bring awareness of kittens needing homes.
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