Thursday, October 6, 2011

Inspirational Gabriel!


One of the greatest things about fostering is the constant exposure to positive energy. Other fosters, vets, volunteers at Town Lake, adopters - all the people you encounter when involved in fostering make the job tremendously rewarding. To be inspired directly by an animal, however, was unusual for me – but here is the story:

A little black kitten, only about a pound and a half, was found under a Dumpster by a TNR (Trap/Neuter/Release) volunteer friend of mine. He had something wrong with his back legs so he couldn’t run away like his Mama and siblings. When he opened his mouth to meow – no sound came out! Such a vulnerable little guy – my friend just couldn’t leave him behind. She scooped him up and took him home. After watching him eat like a horse and purr like a tiger, she knew that despite his injury, he had a tremendous spirit – she just had to get him off the street.



I happened to be fostering a singleton kitten (“Margarita”) from Town Lake. She’d had a cold but her sniffles had finally cleared up – and she was becoming the little ball of energy that every healthy young kitten becomes. My adult cats couldn’t keep up with her wishes to play 24/7 so she was glued to my side every minute of the day. She needed a kitten friend!  But what was wrong with the Dumpster kitten? Did he have something contagious? I made a call to Town Lake’s awesome Foster Coordinator to explain the situation. Knowing that I’d foster him as long as it took to find him an indoor-only home, she arranged for him to be examined by the wonderful Town Lake vets. Instead of an injury, they discovered that he had a rare neurological disorder called Cerebeller Hyperplaysia. He’d never walk normally, but he was otherwise perfectly healthy - and Town Lake was happy to accept him into their foster program. He needed a name though – and I’m not good with names. Without knowing much about him, I called him “Wobbles”.

Introducing Wobbles to his fellow foster kitten was so fun. They sniffed each other for about 10 seconds and then immediately started wrestling. Even though Wobbles often stumbled and couldn’t run as fast as Margarita, he’d patiently wait for her to come close enough and then he’d pounce on her. She loved it! She’d follow him around, taunting him – neither one of them had any idea that he was any different than any other kitten. And he was also such a snuggly guy – he just loved cuddling. Watching him overcome obstacles on a daily basis, and with such joy, I just knew he’d find a home if someone special would take the time to meet him.


In order to help explain his condition, I found a news story on YouTube about a kitten named Noodle who had a similar condition: 


I posted the video and pictures of Wobbles on Craigslist, and a few days later I got an email from a woman who’d recently lost a beloved cat to a coyote, so she was very committed to keeping her family’s cats indoors forever more. And since it was an animal-loving family of four school-aged children who had other friendly pets, I knew Wobbles would get a lot of attention – what a match! The family was so excited that they drove to Town Lake immediately and got their application approved. Then they visited Wobbles and it was instant love!


The son in the family thought the name “Gabriel” suited Wobbles as it means “God’s able-bodied one”.  Joyful little Gabriel went to a home that sees him just as he sees himself!


1 comment:

  1. My thanks to the wonderful family who adopted Dumpster/Wobbles/Gabriel! He's a special boy and I hope he brings you much joy.

    Leslie (one of MANY people who helped with the rescue/rehoming effort)

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