Hi Family and friends!

Recently, a very socialized kitten was dumped in my yard. He showed up at exactly the same time as a family/group of people doing renovation work in the neighborhood.

I found him frantically trying to eat soggy pizza scraps off the ground by my recycling bin late at night. I was trying to clean out said pizza scraps from my recycling, pizza scraps I believe the same people threw in! Grrrr. Anyways…he was confused, terrified, trying to walk into traffic, and then trying to climb up us and get into the house.

My partner Brian went out at 11 pm on a work night to get him a litter box, blanket, and some kitten food. We made a safe spot in a crate in our office for him for the night.

The next day, I made call after call trying to get some help for him from community resources. I have health issues of my own, am renting, and we already have an aging cat with health issues, so keeping him long-term unfortunately isn’t possible for us. I called/contacted the Ingham County Animal Shelter, Capitol Area Humane Society, Jackson Humane Society, Owosso Humane Society, Happy Feet Pet Rescue, Saved By Zade Pet Rescue, Constellation Cat Cafe, and a couple of other rescues. I was met with either no response, told they were at max capacity, told they couldn’t help, or for the rescues, told there are long waitlists (often months and months and months out).

We could keep calling shelters until someone took him, but the idea of him growing up in a metal box doesn’t thrill us. So as of right now, the plan is to get him some medical care and get him on a waitlist for a rescue. He currently has fleas, needs to be dewormed, isn’t neutered, and we aren’t sure of FIV status so blood work is necessary. We got an estimate from our vet for initial care at about $300 and we’ll be taking him in today. Neutering will be a little ways down the road still, and toys/food/ongoing medication are expected expenses.

We have a cat overpopulation issue here in Lansing. We truly need more city-funded TNVR programs and public education efforts. I’ve been doing my best to take care of local feral cats and have been learning about and navigating TNVR. So I’m a bit overwhelmed with the addition of a kitten in need of care and could use some help!

Any and all help is appreciated. Even a couple of dollars helps tremendously! We’ve had several friends already donate via Venmo and PayPal but a GoFundMe seemed more appropriate if we’ll be caring for him for a while.

Again, thank you from my little family for taking the time to read our story and thank you for any help you may be able to offer. No matter how small.

I will do my best to post any updates on the little guy!

Warmly,

SJ, Brian, Fluffy Cat, and Kitten