Homeless man rescues a tabby kitten

One day a homeless man in Las Vegas noticed a little lump in his sleeping bag. Upon inspection, he discovered it was a living, breathing, meowing, furry lump who had crawled in there for a little extra warmth. Now there’s an enterprising kitten. She knew how to stay out of the cold!

Helping a stray kitten

Not knowing what else to do, the man brought the tabby kitten to a local vet clinic. Except there was a tiny problem. This vet was a specialist, so he didn’t have the room or the setup to keep a little one-month-old ball of fluff.

Fate, however, intervened. Best Friends staffer Carmen Smith was transporting Pixie the cat to this same vet clinic for some eye medical care. She happened to walk into this vet’s office right around the time the vagabond kitten showed up. The clinic begged her to take the kitten back to Best Friends. Turns out there was room at the sanctuary, so Carmen agreed, on one condition. "You have to give me something to transport her in," she said.

Transporting the kitten to the sanctuary

Lacking an actual carrier, they built a cube out of filing supplies that sort of worked. With one problem: The bars were just far enough apart that the kitten could poke her head through them but not pull it back. After playing the classic game of keep-the-kitten-in-her-cage for a few miles, Carmen decided to pull over and buy a real carrier. It was smooth sailing from then on.

Carmen the kitten (an obvious name!) is still young enough to require round-the-clock bottle-feeding. But with her playful, spunky little ways, nobody minds the extra effort. Welcome, little castaway!

Find out how to care for an orphaned kitten.

Photo by Troy Snow