All cats may have nine lives, but Christopher, an orange and white tabby who lives at a Redwood City veterinary clinic, also has a sixth sense. Dubbing him a "guardian angel," "wonder cat" and "miracle kitty," the staff and volunteers at the Nine Lives Foundation's Feline Well-Care Clinic say Christopher can tell when other cats need help. He will sit outside the cages of sick felines until someone lets him in.
Christopher, who is about 3 or 4 years old, was found on the side of a road by a group of bicyclists in March. He arrived at the clinic unable to stand, his pelvis fractured. He recuperated, and one day simply jumped out of his cage while it was being cleaned. Since then, Christopher has lived at the clinic.
On Wednesday morning he snoozed in his favorite cat bed on a desk, ignoring the hustle and bustle around him. As is typical for Christopher, he was napping next to a terminally ill cat.
"He'll often paw at a cage door to be let in so he can clean and comfort a cat in there," said Robert Lowery, a San Ramon resident and volunteer at Nine Lives.
Last month, when he asked to be let into a cage with two feral kittens that were "untouchable, just hissing and growling." Christopher taught the kittens all about being a cat, and within a couple of weeks they were tame.
But Christopher's biggest claim to fame is likely saving the life of a tiny black kitten that came to the clinic July 11 with severe anemia. She needed a blood transfusion immediately, and the centre's vet couldn't draw enough to even determine her blood type.
Christopher kept jumping up on the operating table, rubbing on Thompson and nuzzling the kitten. So the vet grabbed Christopher and used his blood for the transfusion. They didn't know it at the time, but the kitten had an uncommon "B" blood type found in about 20 to 25 percent of the cat population. As it turned out, Christopher also has Type B blood. The kitten was standing up within about four hours of the transfusion.
Though many people have inquired about adopting Christopher, the staff at the centre are definitely keeping him.
"Who knows how many cats he'll save in the years ahead," one of the volunteers said.
COMMENT:
Christopher, you are a hero and a star and, most definitely, our:
BRICK OF THE DAY
Thanks to Ellie for sending
this story into MadPriest Towers.
You quite often hear about unselfish or heroically loyal dogs, but it's not often you hear about that sort of thing from a cat. Good on ya, Christopher.
ReplyDeleteHe would still eat your little birdies given half a chance :-)
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of an article about a cat at a Nursing Home who wanders the halls and climbs up on beds of very ill patients. Did you post that one too MP? I'm sure I read it on a blog.
ReplyDeleteHe would still eat your little birdies given half a chance :-)
ReplyDeleteWell, I dunno - Christopher seems the sort of cat who might generously rip their heads off and pass them to some cat he felt looked a bit poorly. You never know.
Oh yes, Susie Sue. We always have our finger on the feline pulse, so to speak.
ReplyDeleteTrue, Cathy. Love they neighbour but hate those meeces to pieces.
ReplyDeleteHe would still eat your little birdies given half a chance :-)
ReplyDeleteOh, I bet so. I'm getting tired of The Evil Parrot, but our own Orange Wonder Cat has too much sense than to risk severe bodily injury by taking her out for me
IT, I had no idea you had an Evil Parrot. What sort? My birdies are not evil, they're rather sweet.
ReplyDeleteMy niece has a cute little cockatiel, Spunkey, who get along famously with her Ragdoll Cats, Neo and Marquee--rides around on top of their backs, etc. They are never left alone in the same room unless Spunkey is safely behind bars, however. Spunkey seems to prefer it this way. Spunkey is not dumb. Such is the way of cats and birds.
ReplyDeleteOh! The evil parrot is a bird?
ReplyDeleteI thought IT was referring to her wife.
Well, you know, lesbian bed death and all that.
Spunkey the Cockatiel?!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI think somebody is trying to wind me up!
The Evil Parrot is not mine. I merely live with it. Technically i believe it belongs to my stepdaughter, who has moved out in youthful freedom. I fear we are stuck with the parrot for the next 30 years.
ReplyDeleteit is a white-capped pionus of very ill temper.
MUCH different from Bubba the cat, who is a superior, very loving animal.
Boocat's niece's cockatiel Spunkey sounds like a cutiepie. Mad Priest, surely you've heard the expression "hunk o' spunk"?? ...
ReplyDeleteIT - awwww!!! I'd love a white-capped pionus of very ill temper. Any chance you could train him to fly across the Atlantic and roost with me?
You could let it loose on the pigeons.
ReplyDeleteYou could let it loose on the pigeons.
ReplyDeleteWhat - the hunk o' spunk, or the ill-tempered pionus? ...
A cat that wanders around and visits the sick is OK. But heaven help the soul who lives in hospice care with a cat that wanders around and visits those marked this day for death. Wouldn't you just love having him come jump on your bed?
ReplyDeleteDah-veed - exactly - if it was me I'd be surreptitiously shoving cat treats under the pillows of the other patients while no one was looking.
ReplyDeleteI'd be surreptitiously shoving cat treats under the pillows of the other patients while no one was looking.
ReplyDeleteDid you get that idea from KJ?
That's right.
ReplyDeleteIt's all KJ's fault.
But heaven help the soul who lives in hospice care with a cat that wanders around and visits those marked this day for death. Wouldn't you just love having him come jump on your bed?
ReplyDeleteI believe that those visited by "Oscar" the nursing home cat are well too far gone to be consciously aware of him, on the day he visits.