New addition to our family!
I'd like to take a moment today to introduce the newest member of our family! His name is Frodo Baggins.
Frodo has a heartwarming story…
Back in April, two young boys in Zion, Illinois found a small, malnourished, sick, 4 week old baby kitten on a street. They put him into a bag and went door to door in their neighborhood trying find someone to take in this poor, sick, dirty kitten. No one would take him in. Frodo was that kitten.
Finally they came to a home of a woman who called the cat rescue organization that we volunteer for and she made arrangements for one of our rescue volunteers to drive down to Zion, IL and pick up this kitten at her home.
The foster coordinator called my husband and I and asked us if we'd take this kitten into our care and give it proper nutrition and medicine. We picked up this kitten in late April and immediately gave him a bath, medication and fed him quality cat food. We gave him de-flea and de-worm treatments, a nice warm bed to sleep in and when we were gone, we made sure he had a stuffed animal in the room with him so he wouldn't feel lonely.
Soon he was ready for adoption. He went up for adoption in August and he got a new home (or so we thought…) Last week he was returned to the shelter and as his foster parents, we picked him up and took him back to our house. The people who adopted him told me Frodo was "a handfull", "bounces off the walls", is "high strung and hyper" and he isn't getting used to their family. So they traded him in for another cat. No problem. It happens sometimes.
Well anyhow, two days ago I was noticing Frodo racing through our house, playing with everything in sight, following me around wherever I went, and actively socializing with all the other cats in the house. I can see why they said he is "a handfull" because Frodo tears around the house like its his own personal racetrack. Actually, this is quite refreshing… since I have several older, lazy cats that just sit there. Frodo is fun to watch.
I also noticed how different Frodo looks from a regular Tabby cat. I just thought Frodo was a Tabby. But I just found his obvious spots to be a unique feature and I decided to hop on the internet for a bit and do a search on cats with spots just to see if there was any information about cats with spots.
Much to my sheer amazement, I discovered that Frodo fits every description I read of an Egyptian Mau! The small, malnourished, sick and dirty little lonely kitten that we nursed back to health for several months is an Egyptian Mau!!! A cat that was worshiped in Egypt as a God, is thought to be the first domestic cat descended from the African Wild Cat, and is the fastest domestic cat on the planet and can clock in at 30 miles an hour, walks and runs with the stride of a cheetah is living in our house! The descriptions and images of this breed online describe our little Frodo perfectly. Frodo has amber eyes with gooseberry green color starting to appear around the pupil. He is a Bronze Mau.
Egyptian Mau Breeders and Fancier's Club
International Association of Egyptian Mau
How did this rare breed of a cat end up homeless and sick on a street? A cat that is quite rare and almost became extinct after World War 2? A cat that is typically shown in cat shows and generally registered with CFA? It is a mystery to me. Perhaps that is the biggest mystery of all. This is not your typical stray. And yet he clearly was a stray kitten, because if he had just wandered off, he wouldn't have been malnourished and sick.
Well Frodo, my husband and I have decided that you have a permanent home. With us. Frodo Baggins you are staying right here with us. We had no intention of adopting another cat. But the opportunity to live with an Egyptian Mau is just too much of a gift from God. One just doesn't come across an Egyptian Mau on the street every day.
Frodo has a forever home! And we have the good feeling that we took him in and rescued him from starvation/death on the street alone.
We love you Frodo! kiss kiss to my little sweet Egyptian Mau! And welcome to the family!
{{{giggle!}}} I'm mom to a Mau!!!! What a beautiful blessing he is!
Frodo as he looked in April shortly after he came into our care:
6 People have left comments on this post
Oct 24, 2009 - 07:10:19Hi Michelle! It was so cool hearing about this story today and I’m so glad you put pictures of Frodo up! He’s GORGEOUS. His markings are majestic! He was an adorable kitty too. It’ll be fun to read about your experiences with Frodo as he grows older. Big hugs and blessings to you my friend!
OHH Michelle I love it. Great story….I miss our Timon who really wasnt ours but we saved him and fixed him. He stuck around for 3months then dissappeared. I dont know if your read my FB status awhile back. We think we hear him crying but nothing there :( he’s a spirit I say. well I am soo happy about this story. Cute fella.
What a beautiful little cat!!! I am sure that you will enjoy every minute with him! My son and I love this breed of cat, just gorgeous!
OH….Michelle….Frodo is….OH…I almost said beautiful! CANNOT offend that little guy by calling him beautiful!!! So, Frodo is MOST handsome! He is very exotic looking so I can see why you would go looking on the net to see if he was a “specific” breed! THANK YOU for what you do with fostering! My husband and I are part of a dog rescue group. Right now we have three foster dogs here. We also have TWELVE dogs of our own and five cats! All were either rescues that we adopted (as you did Frodo) or strays that we took in! We just adopted out one of our fosters yesterday. She was such a sweet girl! It’s a good thing she did get her fur-ever home though or I’d have THIRTEEN dogs of my own!!! (grin)
What fun! Enjoy sweet Frodo! You guys are wonderful for fostering, too!
Ahhh..I love a love story. Thanks for sharing!!!