It takes a kindhearted person to adopt an animal from a shelter, but it takes someone very special to take home a pet with special needs. Giving these animals a good home, despite the added difficulties along the way, is a beautiful and worthy experience.
That’s certainly the case for one inspiring couple who took in a poor kitty who had no eyesight… and then went above and beyond to make sure he felt at home.
Jen & Ian, a couple from Washington, D.C., are the operators of a “Playschool for Wayward Kittens.” Their home is filled with cats, both their own pets and foster cats they hope to find homes for.
In 2018, the couple made a trip to a local shelter, planning to give a home to another cat.
They usually focus on bringing in older cats—presumably because they’ve been in the shelter longer are less likely to get adopted—but on this trip, it was a little kitten who caught their attention.
The little orange cat was completely blind. He was born blind due to genetic problems, and had his non-functioning eyes surgically removed when he was eight weeks old due to infections.
The couple spotted the cat shortly after his surgery, and found him gamely trying to feed himself despite not being able to see.
“I saw this tiny little kitten who has just has his eyes removed, so he had stitches on his eyes and he was wearing a cone, sitting in his cage, all by himself trying to eat out of a food bowl,” Jen told Naturee.
They agreed that the shelter was not the best place for the cat to recover, and decided to bring him home.
“The idea of leaving him there was just not something that I could fathom so I was like, ‘Alright we’re taking this one.’”
They named the cat “Bop,” and adapted surprisingly well to the new surroundings.
However, the other cats—who the couple says are normally very accepting of new arrivals—were “confused” by the new kitten.
But Jen & Ian had an idea to make Bop feel at home. They remembered he had a biological brother at the shelter, and called up to see if he was still available.
He was, and all of a sudden they had two new kittens. They named the brother “Boop.”
Bop & Boop quickly adjusted to the home. Still, they were meant to be foster cats: Jen & Ian intended to find them forever homes elsewhere.
But half a year later, they realized the cats had become part of the family.
“After 6 months of fostering them, we realized we could never let them go,” they wrote on Instagram. “Our lives are so much richer for their presence!”
It was a kind gesture of them to care for a blind cat, but it turns out, Bop doesn’t have much of a problem fending for himself.
What he lacks in sight he makes up for in “amazing” hearing—”You can touch a treat bag three rooms away and he’ll hear it and come running,” Jen joked—and has demonstrated incredible spatial awareness.
“He’ll bump into things occasionally, but it’s unbelievable how rare that is,” Ian told Naturee. “Even if there’s a suitcase in the middle of the room or the table gets moved because we’re cleaning.”
Bop & Boop joined the couple’s three pet cats, bringing their total up to five. All the cats are what are considered “foster fails,” cats that were originally brought home to be temporary foster pets but ended up staying.
But with cats this adorable, it’s hard to imagine it’s much of a “fail.”
While their house is a little more full, they are continuing to take in foster cats, hoping to give a little love on those who need it most.
“It’s something we do because it makes us feel good,” Jen said. “Because we like giving back to the cat community and the animal community in general.”
Let’s thank this wonderful couple for giving a loving home to so many cats in need! Share this story!