Zen

Dear Marjorie,

Nearly a year ago now, my husband and I adopted an adorable tiny orange kitten from the Hervey Foundation. We named him Zen and he is a joy to us and has been known to charm the most stubborn of cat-dislikers.

As I recall, Zen and his littermates had come to you after being abandoned outside a hotel in Edmonton last fall. Zen was the last of his litter to be adopted, and he was a bit sickly when we brought him home. In fact, you were reluctant to let us take him then but I’m so grateful you trusted us with his care!

We were already in love with him and couldn’t bear to wait any longer to have him in our family.

Zen was quite badly constipated when we brought him home, so Mike (my husband) and I diligently fed him cream and canned food mixed with pumpkin. One of us was with him 24 hours a day for the first few days and it broke our hearts to see him stumbling around in pain that first little while. However, after about a day and a half he finally passed a poop that was half the size of his little body! Mike was there when it happened and called for me to come right away and we stood there in admiration of the poop in the litter box! 🙂 We were so thrilled for Zen we even teared up a little. We definitely have tender feelings for our cats! Anyway, within minutes Zen regained his strength and energy and wanted to play with the other cats. It was a very happy day for us!!

Zen was very well socialized when we brought him home and never showed any hesitation to play with our other cats, even when he was teeny. I credit that partly to his spunky personality, and partly to you, for the environment you keep at the Foundation. I remember the cats there playing together rather than being kept in cages. I think that is a very healthy atmosphere for a kitten to be in.

The one of baby Zen sitting on the floor looking up at Mike (first picture, fourth row down) has gotten lots of attention because it’s so sweet. And check out the pictures of him now and his fabulous tail! What a gorgeous boy!

Another funny thing about Zen: he loves to play catch with the plastic eggs inside Kinder Surprises (emptied of the little toys of course). He’s also a rascal! He likes to walk on the computer keyboard and is always knocking pens off tables and desks! 🙂

Marjorie, thank you again for rescuing Zen and bringing him into our life. He’s a sweet, charming, cuddly cat who livens up our home in many ways. We love him like crazy!

Sincerely yours,
Louisa F.