Grandpa Mason had been living a rough life. The elderly cat was completely feral. He had been trapped by Tiny Kittens during one of the rescue’s regular Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) events.
“He is one of the oldest surviving ferals we have seen, and throughout his recovery, he made it clear his feral instincts were deeply ingrained,” the shelter wrote.
In short, Grandpa Mason was cranky— but he also had a very good reason. The poor elderly cat was littered with injuries. He had a giant growth on his paw, his tail had been broken in numerous places, and he would require extensive dental work. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, the rescue realized he also had advanced kidney disease.
If Tiny Kittens returned Grandpa Mason to the outdoors, he likely wouldn’t survive the winter. Their only options were to euthanize him or see if the feral cat could possibly adjust to life in a new home. They decided to try the latter.
Grandpa Mason was placed in a new home and slowly started adapting to domestic life. He still wasn’t comfortable being pet by humans, but he liked to play, and it was clear that he was very happy.
“It was a long adjustment for him,” Grandpa’s new mom told The Dodo. “He was essentially like an elderly gentleman who’s lived his whole life a certain way and then, all of a sudden, is forced to live a completely different way.”
The rescue was amazed that, for a feral cat, Grandpa Mason had adjusted so well. At that point, they really didn’t expect things to get much better… but then Grandpa met the kittens.
One day, Grandpa Mason’s human decided to bring a group of foster kittens to the house. “They swarmed over Mason’s lair and started climbing all over him, just really invading his personal space,” she wrote.
Grandpa’s foster mom was expecting Mason to hiss or swipe at the rambunctious kittens. To her surprise, however, he leaned into them contentedly and closed his eyes with a kitty smile.
“I completely melted,” his foster mom recalled. “The one thing missing for Mason had been contact with another living being, and while he didn’t want that from ME, he had clearly been craving it from his own kind.”
In an interview with The Dodo, she explains, “Ever since that happened, he loved the kittens and he got so excited when they would come out and he could play with them.”
The foster kittens bring joy and comfort to Grandpa Mason’s life, and his story is a reminder of all the love and care that feral cats have to give.
“I don’t think he’s ever got the chance to be a kitten, and he’s having so much fun.”
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