Help a Sick Street Kitten Find his Forever Home

Help us save Jelly, the cuddliest kitten you ever did meet.

Montenegro, like many countries, has a problem with street cats. These cats are somewhat fed by tourists during the summer but are typically riddled with viruses, parasites and diseases and come autumn and winter when tourists leave, they are much more vulnerable to going hungry and deteriorating health wise.

We are currently travelling Europe, working remotely, and within 24 hours of arriving in Montenegro, we met Jelly, who has changed our world.

As we fed the colony of cats outside our apartment, one in particular, a sick and gaunt little kitten, would push to the front of the queue and cry endlessly for attention. He was clearly starving and dehydrated, with a distended stomach that indicated a heavy parasite burden and a little lollypop head and bulging, streaming eyes. He would curl around our legs, chase us down the street and every time we knelt down to feed him, he’d get straight onto our laps and cuddle into our chests, purring loudly and pushing all other cats and kittens away from us. His jealous nature earned him his name - Jelly.

After two days, we knew something was really wrong. He cried and followed us all the way down the road and so we popped over to the shops to buy him some food, when we returned, he was lying in the middle of the street, waiting for us, but weak and lifeless, and seemingly unable to worry about the cyclists, scooters and strollers narrowly avoiding him. We could see his conditioning deteriorating each day so we decided to take him to a vet.

He was instantly trusting and affectionate, even as we put him in a car and took him to the other side of town, he purred and reached up at our faces and snuggled into our armpits.

Jelly’s treatment has been complicated. He was put on an IV drip for dehydration, and treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories for a bacterial infection that has spread into his blood stream from his intestines. His intestines are damaged due to excessive worms, which has caused him to become malnourished.

We were asked to return to the vets every day for a week, but whilst behaviour wise, he was improving (night-time zoomies!), the vets didn’t like his vitals and were concerned that he wasn’t responding to treatment as they had hoped. We ended up seeking several different opinions and he is now being treated with new worming medication, as the consensus is that he has an extreme parasite invasion.

And yet, despite all the trauma he has endured and how sick he feels, Jelly is the most affectionate cat we have ever met. He is the kind of Instagram cat you see who cuddles up into your neck at night and curls up like a baby in your arms – everyone who meets him is not entirely convinced he started life on the streets, because he is so domesticated and wants constant human interaction. We even took to wearing slings so we could actually get any work done, because all he wants to do is cuddle. He makes adorable little comfort grunts when we wakes from a good sleep in our laps and gets super excited when we’re all sitting together on the sofa as a family.

The dirty, skinny kitten we took in on that first day has thrived with some TLC and has filled out into a beautiful little boy who's full of life and love. He's a vocal little lap kitty during the day, and a crazy sock killer each evening!

However, the vets have given us a very stark picture of the reality. If Jelly goes back on the streets, his condition will deteriorate and he will suffer until he eventually passes away. We have been told to find him a home or put him to sleep.

We have a forever home for him set up in the UK, but as Montenegro is considered high-risk for rabies by the UK, getting him there is a lengthy process. He needs the usual pet passport, microchip and vaccinations, but on top of that, a rabies titer test after which 90 days have to pass before he's able to travel. We are only able to stay in Montenegro for 90 days (of which we have already stayed for 20), so fostering is our only option.

We have found him a foster home with a fantastic person (no mean feat in itself, finding one has been a full-time job), but paying for this 4 month stay and treatment is where Jelly needs your help.

The costs are as follows:

We have already spent hundreds of euros on vet visits getting him to this point, and this is just beyond our means at the moment. Any donations up to the goal will be used exclusively for Jelly’s treatment and for getting him home, and any surplus will be donated to the fosterer, to aid in the mammoth task of caring for the stray cats of Montenegro.

Without your help, Jelly will be unable to leave the country, unable to find a forever home, and we will be faced with two choices that are both unbearable to even think about.

We are helping him in every way we can at the moment, but we need your help to get him home.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for reading and for any support you can provide. Please help us give this affectionate kitten the love and life he deserves.

Chris, Jess and Jelly.