[Vision2020] Caturday (August 21, 2010)

[Tom Hansen]

Courtesy of the San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, California) at:

 

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15821656?nclick_check=1

 

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Nine lives, sixth sense: Cat at veterinary clinic seeks out ailing cats

By Diana Samuels, Daily News Staff Writer

 

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, and last month, the clinic
says, he saved the life of a kitten in need of a blood transfusion.

 

"It's weird, it's really true that he seems to understand things," said
Monica Thompson, Nine Lives' chief veterinarian and founder. "He knows when
he can help. He alerts us when things aren’t right about a cat.”

 

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.

 

He even became known as the "feral kitten tamer" last month, when he asked
to be let into a cage with two feral kittens that were "untouchable, just
hissing and growling," Thompson said.

 

Christopher taught the kittens all about being a cat, and within a couple of
weeks they were tame. One has since been adopted, and the other is still
available.

 

"The kittens were so excited to see (Christopher) that when he left the cage
they would sit and cry," Thompson said.

 

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 Thompson couldn't draw enough to even
determine her blood type.

 

"I didn't know what I was going to do," Thompson said.

 

Christopher kept jumping up on the operating table, rubbing on Thompson and
nuzzling the kitten. So Thompson grabbed Christopher and used his blood for
the transfusion.

 

Thompson 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. It's also
a blood type usually found in purebred cats, Thompson said, so she wouldn't
have expected to find it in the black shorthaired kitten.

 

As it turned out, Christopher also has Type B blood. The kitten was standing
up within about four hours of the transfusion, Thompson said, and has since
gone back to Humanimal Connection, the rescue foundation that was caring for
her.

 

"If I hadn't paid attention to (Christopher), I probably would have lost the
cat," Thompson said.

 

Though many people have inquired about adopting Christopher, Thompson said,
he "serves a purpose" at the clinic.

 

"Who knows how many cats he'll save in the years ahead," Lowery said.

 

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Miracle kitty Christopher sleeps in his bed at the Nine Lives Foundations
Feline Well-Care Clinic on Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010. The feline seems to
know when other cats are in distress and he recently provided blood to a
seriously ill kitten that needed a transfusion.

 

http://tinyurl.com/Miracle-Kitty-Christopher

 

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

 

Tom Hansen

Moscow, Idaho

 

PS – If you are interested in attending the Conoco injunction hearing in
Lewiston on Monday, a group of us will be meeting in the back room of One
World Café Monday morning at 9:00.

 

"Corporations are an oppressed minority forced to move headquarters from
state to state in search of friendlier tax codes--sometimes being forced to
live just off our shores in tiny mailboxes." 

 

- John Oliver, The Daily Show

 

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