This story was shared within the framework of the Fur Fam Storytelling Contest. Submissions have been accepted through December 5. Voting will take place December 6 through December 31. The three grand prize winners will receive a $500 prize, plus a $500 prize pool. $2000 cash and supplies for their favorite shelter. View all stories here!
Once in 2019, I took on a position as a fundraising writer for a dog and cat shelter in Thailand. All day long, I’ve been writing social media posts and sending out emails about animals our catchers found on the streets of Phuket, or animals carried by interested people in the community. come to us.
As the main animal story writer at the time, I had first-hand information about each rescued cat and dog that came to the shelter every day. I am very much a cat person. A kitten, a big, sweet tabby boy, caught my eye, but it was diagnosed as positive for FIV. I wanted to adopt him, but the adoption failed because of the risk to my other cats, all of which are healthy. I was crushed!
When this happened, I struggled – learning to live in a strange (but gorgeous) tropical home 9,000 miles from my old home in the desert, haunted by my beloved boyfriend me (who was excited about my new adventure, but realized the reality was too much of a gap between us), trying to care for a terminally ill cat I brought come to Thailand with me, can’t sleep much due to new environment… I have reached my intelligence.
There’s a meme that I really like that popped up on social media: “Someday someone will come into your life who will make you understand why things never worked out before”. But that’s not a human coming into my life. That is Happiness.
Happy is a skinny 7-month-old black kitten found on the streets of Phuket. A kind soul noticed how terrible the poor boy’s eyes were. The woman took him to the vet hospital at my shelter. I got news about him and started writing my fundraiser about him. Something told me I needed to see this cat alone.
The reception staff initially named Happy “Khontee.” When I went to see him, the poor baby was locked in a room full of other kittens waiting to be evaluated for illness, behavior problems and the like. His eyes were amputated because they were too damaged to be saved.
I asked if I could keep him. Khontee clung to me, weeping bitterly in the sweetest kitten voice I had ever heard. I’m sure the meows of the other kittens, the squeal of her cage, and the fact that overnight she could no longer see what was going on around her, terrified her.
When I held him back, I decided to get this poor boy out of there as soon as possible. The next day, I brought Khontee home with a syringe full of doxicillin to treat a cold he had.
After coming out of her shelter, Khontee began to go on with her own life. He was sweet, playful, and aware of the presence of my other cats (I had four other cats at the time). He wants to make friends with all of them and chase them non-stop! Only my Russian Blue boy, Mister, can have anything to do with the eager kitten.
My poor sick boy, Charlie, who was dying of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, escaped from Khontee because he felt so horribly disturbed (my twice-daily attempts to give him to him). his medicine was enough to hurt). My other two guys stay as far away from crooks as possible, not knowing what to do with this overbearing, eyeless boy.
I bought Khontee a rubber chicken, the only toy I could find in the pet shop in my small village supermarket. He chased after it as best he could. I had to keep humming so he could hear me. Whenever he couldn’t hear anything, he cried for me. As if he needed to know his mother was there for him. He’s still doing this, it’s been two years, and it melts my heart.
Seeing all the joy overflowing from this boy made me realize that he didn’t have the right name. I decided to name Khontee “Happy.” Today I called him Happiness, Mr. Happiness, Mr. Cat and just Cat… and he answered all of them. He was so excited when he heard my voice! We love each other very much, Happiness and I.
For the past two years, Happy has been winning over my other kittens. Sadly, we lost Charlie shortly after Happy got home. My girl, Little Miss Sunshine/Sunny, 7 years old, grooms Happy as often as he is her own kitten. My friendly Mister and Happy chase each other around the house, blowing up my area rugs and kitten toys.
Even my “king”, Bernie, a giant loofah recluse, cuddled Happy again and again. Everything was going well until Happy – he weighed 18 pounds – decided it was a game and attacked in joy. Bernie ran away and Happy came looking for me.
Happy is a very smart boy who can sense the presence of birds and bugs, and bats at them when I let him out on my balcony in Arizona (we moved back in 2020) . I had to restrict access to his balcony because, after 14 months, he finally discovered the balcony railing! The rest of the eaves, I had Happy protected by the hilt of a sword. Happy is now determined to discover what lies on the railing. I promise not to let anything bad happen to him.
When I explained to people that Happy was blind, they often expressed pity. But Happiness is not a little pitiful! He doesn’t care about his lost eyes… after all, he’s been fine without them for most of his life.
The truth is that Happy can see – with his heart. And I will do my best to fill it with love and give it the beautiful life it was born to have and all cats deserve.
This story was submitted by Janet Rice, in support of The Hermitage Cat Shelter. To see other Fur Fam Story Contest entries, click here!
