Rita is strictly an indoor cat.  

Rita is one of four kittens who came into rescue at a very young age with significant burns. Her burns were isolated to her paws (all four of them). Rita and her brother, Javier, sustained the most severe burns of the four kittens. Her injuries have healed nicely, however, the burns did result in the loss of an entire back foot, loss of many of her toes and altered most of the intact nail beds causing deformities to her three remaining paws. Because of this, Rita is considered a special needs kitten and her adopters will need to be able to provide her with a strictly indoor forever home.

Rita was the smallest kitten in both size and weight when she first came to our home. She was so small, and so wounded. We could do nothing but focus on the moments at hand with her, it was too difficult to try to imagine her future.

In the beginning, she cried if she wasn’t being held. So all of us took turns. Once in our arms, she would roll herself into her back, stare deeply into our eyes (we came to call that her ‘love eyes’), and would reach her poor wounded paws up to pat our necks and faces. I can’t even try to imagine how much pain she was in, but she always reached out for touch. And those love eyes…we were helpless against them.

To our surprise, those moments with Rita kept multiplying. We realized at some point that it was safe to think about what wonderful things may be in store for her in the months to come, and the years after that. She has survived, and better yet, is thriving.

Today, Rita outweighs all of her siblings. She eats, and plays, and naps, and gets herself into precarious situations just as any toddler kitten should. She has found her voice and she uses it.

Like her siblings, Rita no longer enjoys being picked up and held. When she’s sleepy, though, she wants her humans close. She cannot get onto the couch herself, but she lets us know she’s ready for snuggles by standing straight up on her haunches (she looks like a little penguin when she does this) while meowing. We pick her up, she curls up as close as possible, and starts making the biscuits. Rita takes breaks from biscuits from time-to-time and still reaches her silly paws out to caress us, with those love eyes activated, staring into our souls until her eyelids become too heavy and sleep envelopes her.

The loss of her back foot has caused Rita to have a significant limp. This, paired with the deformities in all of her remaining paws, makes it difficult for her to run. She cannot jump or climb. Rita has trouble protecting herself and getting into a safe space when she is feeling threatened. Because of this, Rita is more fearful than her siblings when meeting unfamiliar animals or when exposed to new situations or experiences. She will always need human support with protection and safety within the home. As mentioned above, she cannot be outdoors.

Rita currently lives in a foster home with her siblings, adults (women and men), tween-age children, adult cats, and older, large-breed adult dogs. All humans and animals in this home interact respectfully with Rita, honor her boundaries, and are attentive to her cues relating to needs and stress level. The people and animals in her forever home will need to do the same.

An adoption fee of $125.00 includes sterilization (spay or neuter), microchip, FIV and FLV test (group test), and current Rabies vaccine (if age appropriate).