Adopting A Stray Cat: How Jürgen Meow Our Kitten Moved Indoors

Our very own Jürgen Meow of The Cattiest Cat Shop was first seen on November 1, 2019, the day after Halloween. A stranger had abandoned him at the front of the human household one eventful day, running away with the kitten left at the door. The unnamed kitten ran away to the back yard, difficult to catch for several months.

The kitten disliked the peanuts set out that morning for the birds. Yuck!

The human purchased kitten food and placed it outside on a paper plate within the same day, staring at the baby cat’s beautiful marble pattern fur coat. Food and water bowls were purchased and placed by the back porch door.

The kitten only responded to “Meow,” hiding in the bushes and spending most of his day gone wandering. He slept beside the porch underneath a canvas that had been placed there for remodeling. He jumped on the fence every afternoon like a jogging trail.

One week later, the human started sprinkling catnip around with a cat condo purchased just for him. “Meow” would play at night anytime from 8 to 9 pm until bedtime at 11 pm with the back porch door opened a bit. “Meow” never felt safe enough to go inside as a cautious fellow. He loved playing with toys and a string until entering the house scared him.

Any time he could play through the glass, “Meow” loved it. Teasing the dog, Isla, or the other kitties, he felt like the stuff!

The kitten had huge paws when spread out. A hint of what was to come? “Meow” grew up VERY tall in adult age!

The local humane society was kind enough loaning out a trap with tips on using canned tuna for trapping the stray kitten. Nothing worked. “Meow” approached the trap and didn’t fall for it. The trap was returned after several failed attempts.

Disappointed, the human moved the cat condo closer to the back door nightly. “Meow” returned, sleeping in it as usual. It was back to business playing every night, and now every morning, as “Meow” stuck around for playtime with new toys. Thanksgiving morning was spent with a full morning of kitten playtime fun! By mid December, “Meow” trusted the human enough to roll on his back and be tickled.

Right after Thanksgiving, “Meow” purred loudly for the first time with the human, who remember, was playing behind the glass and with “Meow” directly through hands on touching with the door open. Before Thanksgiving, his purrs were very soft.

On December 25, 2019 around 10 pm, “Meow” was on his back, rolling around in catnip, surrounded by his baby toys and snuggle friends designed to help kittens. One toy he owned and still has is this PetStages unicorn with a removable heating pad for comfort.

Inside, the still growing kitten was placed inside a bathroom because the human felt unsure if he had any diseases he could give the three other cats. He was named Jürgen Meow. Jürgen, honoring German soccer/football star Jürgen Klinsmann, and Meow, because he was “Meow” outside, always meowing back in reply. Inside the house, Jürgen Meow was shy. Every noise frightened him. Peeking into the living room, he ran back into the cat condo, now relocated in his tiny bathroom with food, water, and a litter box.

Jürgen Meow was taken to a vet close by for a pediatric exam and vaccinations. At the exam, the vet scanned him for a microchip with a wand. No microchip! Hooray! Jürgen Meow was ready to be adopted. Thank goodness there was a patient opening. His vet neutered him that morning.

As he recovered, Jürgen Meow learned about the scratching post: the human “scratched” the post, scented with rubbed catnip, as a demonstration. Always have your camera ready for baby’s first scratch!

Weeks later, Jürgen Meow returned for a post-surgery checkup, weighing, and further pediatric care. He loved being weighed by his doctor.

Given the go ahead to mingle with the other cats by his doctor, Jürgen Meow moved out of the bathroom. He had a new family. Dreams do come true for strays and abandoned kittens!

MEOWTASTIC!

We at Lucky Pineapple Films love cats. We love them so much, we have our own cat themed store, The Cattiest Cat Shop. To celebrate our love of cats, we invited people to share their own cat stories. When we moved the website over to a new shop, we didn’t want to lose them. Voila! Here the amazing cat stories are forever preserved on the Lucky Pineapple Films website.