DOB:  actual unknown

DOB used:  5/21/2019

Gotcha:  5/21/2021

Acquired:  found as a stray in a store parking lot

Breed:  American Shorthair 

Color:  Black

STORY

When I saw Sylvia in the store’s parking lot, I knew she was nursing a litter of kittens.  To this day, I have never seen her kittens.  It was very obvious that Sylvia was emaciated.  I left Sylvia in the store’s parking lot for at least three months before I took her home.  Regardless of any shopping, I would go to this store daily to visit with a friend who worked at the store and to feed Sylvia.  I was looking for the right time to take Sylvia home.  

She was so friendly to humans.  She learned to recognize which humans fed her and loved her when she would venture away from her babies.  She had learned that I was a human she could trust.  She even learned what my car looked like.

As I was getting close to choosing the day to take Sylvia home, I would ask my friend if she had seen Sylvia’s babies.  When my friend told me Sylvia’s babies were almost as big as she was, I decided to take her home within the next day or two.  Sylvia looked like she was about nine or ten months old.  When my friend told me Sylvia’s babies were almost as big as she was, I figured the babies were at least six months old.  I knew Sylvia was no longer nursing any babies because I could feel she was no longer lactating.

Capturing Sylvia was relatively easy.  The first day I tried, I used a side loading cat carrier.  This did not work.  The next day, I carried a can of cat food and a top loading cat carrier.  When Sylvia ate as much of the cat food she wanted, I picked up the cat food with one hand, scruffed Sylvia with the other.  I placed the cat food inside the carrier.  I placed Sylvia inside the carrier.  I closed the lid of the carrier to my wrist before releasing her scruff.  Being inside a closed cat carrier and being placed in an automobile temporarily caused stress to Sylvia.

I had already set up my enclosed back patio with a litter box, food and water in preparation for Sylvia’s arrival.  Since she was a stray, I wanted to temporarily quarantine her until I could take her to my vet.  It was a Thursday when I took her home.  The vet couldn’t see her until the following Monday.   She lived for three days on the back patio.  I would give her a light at night.  I would feed her wet cat food several times a day.  I would visit with her and give her the love she probably had never had.  She ate an entire case of canned cat food in those three days.  

I took her to the vet for her shots and deworming.  It was at that appointment, the vet informed me that Sylvia was not nine or ten months old.  Sylvia was two years old.  Her emaciation severely stunted her growth.  She was spayed two weeks after I took her home.

Sylvia began to grow during her first six months in her new home.  Her body was finally catching up with her age.

I subsequently learned that Sylvia’s kittens were all adopted by other store employees or customers.