True, the blind kitten who loves belly kisses & trying to stand on your head! Domestic Short Hair Gardiner, NY

Please read about laugh-riot rescue kitten True, a loving runt who needs a loving home. If you like what you read, please send in your answers to the questions asked at the end of this description. Anyone who sends answers to them in the body of an email to philoctete@mailbug.com is guaranteed to get a prompt reply; and if you are seeing this listing, she still needs a home. Thanks!

This undersized kitten almost died when she was younger, but she pulled through (the virus affected her eyesight), which is why she is called True Grit (she's also called True Gen and you're sure to call her True LOVE if you get to know her). Here's what you'll love about her - you can hold her above your head and look up at her and she purrs. You can kiss her belly whilst she's up there! She loves to give you oh-so-gentle, not-sloppy-wet nose licks. You can hold her belly-side up in your arms (do some more belly-kissing!). She falls asleep in your arms. I think she must feel insecure somewhere inside, because (although she did not leave her mother till she was about 8 weeks of age) she does engage in suckling behaviors - on the skin of your hand as you hold her, or even on the fur of her own arm as she falls asleep in your hands! (You can tell when she has been doing this, because she leaves a big wet patch of ruffled fur on her little arm.) When alone in her fuzzy catbed, she also tends to knead and suckle on the synthetic fabric of the bed (purr, purr!).

Here's what you'll admire about her: Though she sometimes walks into or onto her food, her vision impairment doesn't keep her from playing. You won't be able to tell she can't see, from the way she darts in and out of her tunnel, or throws her stuffed bird toy around, or leaps and climbs around (well, occasionally she crashes due to an error a sighted kitten might have been able to avoid making) . She can bat and chase things that make a noise as they shuttle across the floor. She's excellent at entertaining herself (she's wonderful at chasing her own tail!), though she loves to play with other kitties (she's so brave about taking on kittens her age who are huger than she, or even kittens several months huger than she, though she does squeal in protest when they flatten her and bite her neck). If you are there with her, she will launch herself in leapy flight (skinny torso held high as she stands on her back legs) at your knee or shoe (she likes to play with shoes whether your feet are in them or not). Though delicate in size and strength and dainty in stature, she can be a formidable combatant - be warned! When playing with you, she may want to stand on your shoulder. And anytime she is up on your shoulder, she conceives an inconvenient desire to scale up to, or jump up to, the top of your head, quickly finding that it's not easy to keep her balance standing up there; she needs your hand to hold her up there till she has seen what
she wants to see and is ready to be airlifted down. She'll try to give you a "high five" but, because of her vision, she'll miss by a few inches! But she's agile, energetic, and athletic. Though she likes to fall asleep in your arms, I have not yet noticed her coming into a human lap to curl up in/on it. But if you fall asleep with her in bed, she'll generally be somewhere up against you - she's so light, you won't feel she's really
there, but she is!

In a new environment at first, she moves cautiously, often walking around in confused wide circles, or in seemingly random patterns like a bumper-car. But she quickly gains confidence and soon she is ambushing that shape she thinks is you; rising up on her hind legs to "make the biggest monster" she can be, she's gonna take you on! She is used to being self-sufficient and independent, but she is so sweet-natured and so accepting that you will easily establish a bond of mutual love with her. In fact, many of her behaviors (according to YouTube cat videos) are special signs that "you have won your cat's heart" - the fact that she likes being picked up by you, the fact that you can nuzzle her belly, the fact that you can touch her paws. Of course, her suckling on your hand is a sweet gesture showing that she gives you her love and trust. She is an exceedingly quiet kitten; she does not vocalize (unless you count purring!).

One thing for an adopter to bear in mind is that, because of her blindness, she does not always understand where to go to or where to aim her "bathroom business". Though it would be inaccurate to call her at all a destructive kitten, an adopter who would be angry with her or very stressed when her
"business" landed outside of the box or in a polite, discreet corner (as it occasionally does [once every 2-3 days, I'd guess]) would not be a good match for her. She does try and I think her smell may be limited, to, so the best chance for setting her up for success in this way would be to have an environment clean of cat urine smells except for within the litterbox, and maybe to use something like Cat Attract herbs in the litterbox itself, or an extra-roomy-sized litter mat, around the litterbox, that you can easily wipe clean when accidents occur.

If interested in trying a trial adoption of True in your home, please write in with your answers to the questions below. If we think that based on the answers she and you sound like a good match, we will ask to exchange references and to arrange a time/day for her to come to your home. Everyone who answers the questions is guaranteed to receive a prompt reply! Thanks!
1. What diet/nutrition would you feed True? Please be specific about what brands of dry food (if any) you would feed her, what brands of canned food (if any) you would feed her, and what brands of raw food (if any) you would feed her, providing the approximate ratio of dry to wet (canned or raw/homemade) food you would offer. If you would let her graze overnight or during the day, please mention that too. Thanks!

2. What are your views, pro or con, in declawing?

3. What are your views, pro or con, on neutering/spaying?

4. Under what circumstances, if any, would you consider parting with her? (We are 100% no-kill and would ask to take her back if for any reason at any time you no longer had her in your family/household.)

5. Would True be indoor only, outdoor only, or a mixture of the two?

6. What kind of water and what type/brand of cat litter would you offer her?

7. What kind of domicile would you share with her (rented apartment, trailer, owned house, rented house, dorm, yurt, etc.) and what other humans and non-humans would live there with you and her?

8. It can be really helpful in determining a good match for us to know something about you - particularly interests/hobbies/leisure pursuits and your source of income (such as job or profession), since cat care can sometimes be expensive. You can also add details, if you wish, such as your previous experiences caregiving for cats, dog-sitting, volunteering; your age; and so forth.

9. If there's anything about True in her looks or her description that appeals to you, "speaking to you", please let us know what it is!