This is our sweet little cat, Archie. Archie is a happy, healthy little 1 year old, with adorable squeaky purrs and the absolute cutest of faces. But he had a very rough start to life.
In the spring of 2012, after having to put our cat Pippin down due to a lumbo-sacral disease, we adopted another kitten from our local SPCA, and named him Oliver. A few months later, I decided I'd like to get Oliver a friend. I have a sweet spot for ginger cats, and wanted to find an orange kitten. During a visit to our vet for our chocolate lab, Harley, our veterinarian told us about a tiny orange kitten her husband had found on his parents' farm. I asked to meet the kitten, and we arranged a visit. From the first time I laid eyes on him, I knew Archie was mine.
When the vet's husband found Archie, he was all alone in the barn. His mother had been killed by a coyote, and the kittens were left orphaned. Looking for warmth, they had cuddled up to the cows in the barn. Unfortunately, most of the kittens were squashed by the cows. Only little Archie remained. He stumbled right up to "Mr. Vet", mewing for help. They took Archie home, cleaned him up and treated his parasites. But they couldn't keep him.
When I finally got to take Archie home, he was 6 weeks old, and still very skinny and tiny. His bones were visible in places, and he had no fur on his hind feet, and very little on his tail. He barely weighed a pound. Despite his size, he took to our home like a fish to water. He made friends with Oliver and Harley very quickly, and even tried to "nurse" on our dog! Archie spent the first few weeks sleeping on my chest at night to keep warm. It's still one of his favorite places to cuddle. Now he's a year old, strong, healthy and active. He'll always be small, but that just means we get to pretend he's still our kitten.
Saskatoon, Canada
