Reader Rescue Pet Story: Tinker

Jamie Murray writes to tell us about her cat Tinker. Tinker’s story starts with her being rescued, not once, but twice, from inside of cars. After some medical issues were resolved, she settled in for life as a beloved member of the Murray family, and is now a special needs therapy pet for her boy.

Tinker has had quite a life already, and she is only 2 1/2 years old. The gorgeous girl with the broad fluffy face has been with Jamie and her family in the Spokane WA area since she was a tiny young kitten of about 8 weeks.

Jamie tells us Tinker’s story:
When Tinker was a tiny 6-8 wk old kitten, a couple rescued her after they discovered her clutched to the axle of their car after they been driving. It took them 30 minutes to free her from under the vehicle.  She first appeared fine and they placed an ad in hopes to find the owner, since she was such a socialable and loveable kitten.

I found the ad on Craigslist for a lost kitten.  I called and told them, if the owners didn’t come and claim her, that I would be very happy to adopt the kitten. When I adopted this kitten, I had stopped at a gas station and I decided to take the kitten out of the carrier to comfort it, as it was crying.

My son then started to misbehave and since the only door open was the door I was standing at to help my son, that I had hoped she would be fine being placed on the front seat while I take care of my son.  When I finally got my son back into his seat, I noticed the kitten was missing.

I heard meows coming from the dash! It took about 15 minutes to get her to come out with enticing of food on the floor board. So, the name Tinker seemed to be a good fit, for a kitten that seems to get stuck in cars. I was looking at the time for playmate for the other kitten that I had adopted recently.

I found out she did in fact suffer from burned paw pads and some minor internal injuries when I took her to the vet. She is now required to be on a special grain-free diet and is a very healthy robust adult cat after months of failure to thrive, bloody diarrhea, and other medical issues as a tiny kitten.

The vet even suggested putting her down due to her health issues. I refused to give up on her and she ended up being wonderful cat, companion to my son, and even lives a double life as a mouser. (not my choice of her being indoor/outdoor, but after countless escapes and often bringing home a present almost daily, I relented to her wishes. I live next to a large open field, so good mousers are a must around our trailer park.

She is great with the other cats and dogs in my house.  She sleeps with her boy most nights (if she isn’t out mousing).  She is a companion cat for a special needs child that struggles with Sensory Processing Disorder.

The family’s other pets are JC – Border Collie (retired Service Dog), Amazon Beauty – Anatolian Shepherd mix (Service Dog), Bella – DSH Torbie & white, and Aurora – DLH/Birman Seal Tortie point mitted.

Thanks to Jamie for sharing Tinker’s story.

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Karen Harrison Binette

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