FAYE, THE WONDER CAT
This is my amazing little cat, Faye. She is a Munchkin breed rescued as a kitten by volunteers at a small cat shelter where I volunteered. In her first few months in foster care, she failed to thrive, diagnosed with an infection in her jaws requiring full extraction of all her teeth to save her life.
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At barely a year old, fully healed from the dental surgery, she came to the Shelter in hopes of finding her 'Forever' home. But it was not to be. Despite her bubbly personality and beautiful tuxedo markings, potential adopters expressed little interest in a 'damaged' cat with no teeth. After months of rejection, I knew she had to be mine. What a fortuitous day. She's blessed me a my faithful friend and companion for eight years.
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In March 2020, Faye was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on the edge of her ear. Fortunately, Dr. Christine Simon of The Cat Doctors in South Tampa was there for her. She coordinated Faye's treatment with Dr. Colby Burns, specialty animal surgeon. Today, she's a healthy one-eared beauty, even more unique than ever.
There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in. ~Leonard Cohen
AWAITING THE DAY
An Ybor City short-order cook tossing out trash early in the day heard tiny cries of desperation...faint pleas to be heard from deep down in a trash bin...two tiny kittens, barely three weeks, begging for their lives. Without hesitation, he picked them up, snuggled them safely in his dish towel, and called a cat rescuer who tenderly bottle fed them every four hours for weeks until they could eat on their own, and continue to thrive until ready to find ‘Forever’ homes. Named ‘Toast’ and ‘Jelly’ for their coffee shop beginnings, Jelly's sister was adopted first, and then Jelly joined our family to become Faye's best friend. I captured this image at sunrise upon finding her frozen in place right where light through curtain crack got in. Amazingly, she stood stock-still while I fetched my camera and focused my lens. What a delight to capture her pensive look of early fear that will never leave her.