Happy, uplifting pet rescue story!

[mikeytherat]

Time for me to start my first pet thread, with the story of how we got our most recent cat, Charlie.

It started off as an ordinary August day.  My wife and I were driving into work early, crossing Richmond's Nickel Bridge, when we both spotted something right in the middle of the bridge.  And when I say right in the middle, I mean that literally!  In almost the exact center of the bridge, huddled between the double yellow lines, was a very small, furry object.  As the object did not move, I thought it was a toy.  I slowed down as I approached the "toy," and as I looked out the driver's window, the "toy" looked up at me!  I said, "It's a kitten, and it's alive."  We did not need to discuss what to do; as soon as we had crossed the bridge, we turned around immediately to retrieve the kitten.

Our immediate concern was that the kitten was severely injured and suffering, and we knew we could not just leave him there.  Stopping in the middle of the bridge, I jumped out and ran to the kitten. To our surprise and joy, he was completely uninjured, save for a scrape on his nose (this is remarkable, considering he was literally inches from cars traveling both ways at 40-50 miles per hour)!  As I was now blocking the entire bridge during morning rush hour, I had to endure many angry car horns and comments; however, I held the kitten aloft for all to see, and several of the previously annoyed commuters started cheering!  Within a few hours, he had his first veterinary experience, and was given a clean bill of health.  He was very thin, and a bit roughed up, but we gave him some food and water, and suddenly he was a little purr machine!

We brought him home, named him Charlie (Charles Darwin, actually), and the rest is history.  It only took a few weeks to integrate him into the household, and he loves to play with his brother and sister cats, Tate and Hannah, as well as his ferret friends, Cartman, Beanbag and Bandit.  He is now a very healthy, happy cat (and he seems to like beds and sofas much, much more than the asphalt of the Nickel Bridge)!

Charlie (day one)


Charlie (today)


mikey_the_rat

[LisaL]

1. He is a lucky kitty.

[LostinVA]

2. Aw, Mikey, you aren't a rat!

You're a damned nice guy! Good for you, my fellow VAer!

[mikeytherat]

4. My screen-name is actually a play on my stage name

Watch those credits roll by! If you see "Michel Therat," that was me! Actually, I guess my stage name is a play on my old nickname, but you get the idea (and yes, I'm French!).

mikey_the_rat

[Mutley]

3. Beautiful tale, beautiful kitty.

:applause:

Good on you mikey!

[lukasahero]

5. What a sweet and lucky kitty

Thank you for what you did.

[crispini]

6. Wow, what a story!

:applause: Good for you! :applause:

[bertha katzenengel]

7. MIKEY, YOU ROCK

:yourock:

:cry: what a lucky, blessed kittle Charlie is!