An old grandfatherly cat needs kittens.
Sounds odd, indeed, but the Langley-based rescue organization Tiny Kittens has put out a plea for help.
āThis is going to sound weird at first,ā Tiny Kitten founder Shelly Roche said, acknowledging itās a strange but āimportantā request.
She hopes someone knows of a cat owner in the area willing āto give us two or more kittens for Grandpa to love?ā She even went as far as to put out a plea through social media and CraigsList more than a week ago.
Grandpa Mason is an ancient, battle-scarred feral cat with terminal kidney disease, who is in need of kittens, Roche explained.
He was rescued in 2016 by Tiny Kittens, and instead of euthanasia, they hoped to make him comfortable and free of pain in what they call his āsunset months.ā
What happened next completely melted hearts.
Heās adjusted remarkably well to life indoors, although heās still is not a big fan of humans. But what floored them was that Mason become an incredible grandpa to many of the organizationās foster kittens.
āHe loves kittens more than anything in the whole worldā¦ He lets them nurse on him, styles their hair, and teaches them important Grandpa secrets about how to be a cat,ā Roche said.
Mason has raised several litters now, and is āhappiest when he is covered in a pile of purring kittens.ā
His story has been told on social media, and one of his transformation videos has received in excess of 6.6 million views.
His last litter of kittens was adopted out in January, and Tiny Kittens has been unable to find replacements for him since then.
āIt is not currently kitten season here, which is actually a good thing,ā Roche said. āBut we just want Grandpa to live out his final months surrounded by as much love and joy as possible, so we are looking for kittens now.ā
They are specific in asking that the kittens not be ill.
āBecause Grandpa is old and has kidney disease, we have to be careful not to expose him to kittens who are sick, so we are looking for at least two kittens who are around four weeks old (so he has enough time with them) and who are relatively healthy. Malnourished, fleas, parasites, etc. are no problem ā we can fix that fast,ā Roche explained.
āOrphaned kittens would benefit most from being fostered by Grandpa, but we are happy to take mama, too, if you have kittens with a mama ā since four weeks is too little to be separated.ā
The idea to post the ad, Roche said, came when she was watching a video posted to Facebook featuring one of Masonās past kittens.
Bean Bunny, as she was named, was very demanding when she woke from a nap, so Mason was accustomed to finding her and giving her a āsmoosh.ā
When Roche was listening to the video, the meows coming from Bean Bunny awoke Mason from his cat nap. He began searching the house for his ālittle babeā.
Thatās when Roche realized he needed some more kittens, sooner rather than later.
āKittens are just starting to come into our local shelters, but they are not yet overflowing to the point where they would benefit from sending them to Grandpa,ā Roche shared with the Langley Advance.
āWe had offers from the southern United States, and were looking into transport options, but I know in a few weeks, we will all be flooded with kittens up here.ā
Fearful, however, that a few weeks might be all Mason has, she didnāt want to wait and so put out the call for some local kittens.
āIn the meantime, we brought in a three-year-old feral, named Riskaā¦ It turns out, Grandpa loves Riska, too,ā she said, noting theyāre both ferals that came from the same area.
āI thought they might enjoy each otherās company while he waits for his next litter of kittensā¦ they play together, he smooshes her and makes biscuits on her, they snuggle together, and the scamper around the house at 4 a.m. trilling to each other.ā
Anyone with kittens for Grandpa Mason can email meow@tinykittens.com. For more information about Tiny Kittens, people can go .
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