Stray Kitten Wanders Onto Family's Property, Stays There for the Next 19 Years

June 4, 2024 Guest Contributor

The following story is a finalist in the Rescue to Royalty Challenge. Three grand prize winners will receive a $250 shopping spree, while a shelter of their choosing will be awarded $2,000 in cash and needed supplies! You can read more stories here!

It was a beautiful sunny November afternoon that day when I came home from work. As I was walking towards the house, I noticed something on the walkway. At first I thought it was a dead squirrel. As I got closer, I realized it was a tiny kitten.

PHOTO: DIANA MARSH

His eyes were half shut, the little ears were barely visible and the tiny tail was sticking straight up. He was meowing at the top of his lungs, yet it was barely audible. I knew where he came from.

The people a few doors down left their cats outside, and every year, they had litters. Either the mother was in the process of moving them and I'd startled her, or he wandered into my yard by himself. To this day, I like to believe he found his way there on his own.

PHOTO: DIANA MARSH

I took him into the house and gave him some water in an eye dropper. I had a small rabbit cage, which I lined with towels and put him in. Then I went to Walmart and got some powered milk and a small bottle to feed him. I prayed that night he would make it. He was so tiny.

A few days later, I saw his mother in my yard looking for him. I felt bad. For a moment, I considered giving him back to her, but I knew he would have a better life with me than he would living outside. Sadly, a couple months later, his mother was hit with a car. I was now officially his mommy.

On his first visit to the vet, he was only 0.6 pounds. He was with me for 19 years through some of the best and worst times of my life. He never left my side. He crossed the bridge in December 2019, and I stayed with him to the end, talking to him and singing him the songs I sang to him when he was a baby.

PHOTO: DIANA MARSH