Meet Mr. Murry

One quiet afternoon, we were startled by a frantic knocking on our door. We opened it to reveal a young girl of about 9 or 10 years old. With tears streaming down her face, she begged us to please come help as her 'Grandpa was going to kill some kittens!!!'.

Before we could say anything, she was running down the street. A couple of us ran after her and discovered a man in the front yard of a house, filling a bucket with water. To our horror, we discovered 4 tiny kittens inside the bucket! We immediately fished out the kittens and began rubbing them with a shirt to dry them off, warm them up and stimulate them awake. Two of them were completely unresponsive and had no heartbeat. We started CPR. The other 2 were responding - but just barely.

Telling 'Grandpa' we would take care of his 'problem', we ran back to the house with the soggy kittens.We guessed that these babies were only about 3 weeks old. There were 2 black and white ones, a silver-grey tabby and a brown and black tabby. None of them were moving anymore.

We contacted our vet and he stopped by on his way home that evening to check on them. He told us they had probably suffered brain damage from lack of oxygen and cautioned us that it was doubtful they would survive the night. The stress of their ordeal was likely too much for them. By this time, everyone was fighting back tears, worried that none of them would survive.

The 2 surviving kittens were so lethargic, they wouldn't nurse (from a bottle) on their own. We had them on a warming blanket and even put them with a 'substitute mom', a stuffed cat that purred. We tried to get them to nurse but they still wouldn't take formula. They would rouse a little when we petted and talked to them but that was it. We finally had to resort to tube feeding.

The little brown and black tabby (who turned out to be a boy) seemed more alert than the silver-grey tabby (a girl). As we held him and talked to him, he would stare at us with his big blue eyes as if he was trying to figure out what we were. But he still wouldn't eat on his own.

Early the next morning, our other cats were up and waiting for their breakfast. To our surprise, the little baby boy was up and moving around in the box we were using as a bed. He seemed quite alert and curious. We brought him with us to the food prep area while we prepared breakfast for our other cats.

As we prepared the baby food-lysine mixture for Buddy, we held up a spoonful of the baby food for the little guy to inspect. To our amazement, he started licking it!

We immediately fixed a dish of the baby food, baby rice cereal and kitten formula for him and he ate it right up! We all began cheering! Despite the odds against him, it seemed as though this tiny baby would survive after all! Only time would tell if he had suffered any permanent damage but we didn't care. No matter what, this little guy would always have a home with us. We decided to call him Murry.

Over the next week, Murry thrived. He became fast friends with Buddy , another kitten we had rescued who was a few weeks older. They began sleeping and playing together and soon were sharing meals together.

Within a couple of weeks, our little baby boy had explored every nook and cranny of the house and was following the 'big cats' around watching everything they did. He was fearless and got himself into quite a few scrapes. He fell off furniture, miscalculated jumps, ran into walls, rolled down the stairs and even fell in the toilet once! Miraculously, he survived every mishap unscathed!

Soon, he started vaccines. Our vet was truly amazed at how healthy he was. We had named him Murry because it seemed to suit him and he seemed to like it. It didn't take long for him to respond to us calling him by name. But we still often refer to him as 'Baby Boy'.

Murry is now a little over 2 years old and continues to make us laugh at his antics. He loves chasing paper balls and mylar crinkle balls which, when he is done, always seem to end up in the water bowl!

He is very laid back and sweet tempered. He loves to snuggle and give us head bunts. When we pick him up, he just melts. It's like holding a bowl of jello!

Nothing ever seems to upset him. He is very friendly and playful with all of the other cats. He never hisses or acts aggressive in any way with cats or people. He is also very quiet. For the entire first year of his life, he never meowed. We suspected at first that there may have been some damage caused by his near drowning. Then, one day on the way to vet for his annual check-up, he started crying - very loudly! - and cried all the way to the vet! His voice is in excellent shape!

Murry is always the first to befriend any new arrivals and especially enjoys grooming the other cats. We often find him out in the Kitty Yard showing the young kittens how to catch bugs. He always comes to greet us when we return from running errands and when we say 'Hi Mr. Murry' he gets this cute, goofy look on his face and vibrates all over. He is just adorable and we all feel a special affection for him.

We are heartbroken over the needless deaths of Murry's siblings. At the same time, we are elated that little Murry survived and is in perfect health despite the odds against him. He is so sweet, even tempered and loving, you would never know that his life had such a harrowing beginning.

Everyday, when he comes to us for a snuggle, Murry reminds us just how important every little life really is!