Chance survived his initial ordeal and was discharged from the hospital. He was in such a weakened state we did not want to put him in a foster home that had any other animals where he might get exposed to something that wouldn’t bother a robust cat but could kill him. We could not vaccinate him until he was stronger – vaccines require a healthy immune system to do their job. I called my Aunt Rowena. She was a life-long cat lover who had lost her beloved 11 year old cat, Dinky, unexpectedly to a blood clot a few months earlier. Since every other cat she had ever owned had lived until their late teens, she felt cheated. But, since she was in her late eighties, she did not want to adopt another cat – one who would likely outlive her. That made her a good prospect to be a cat foster mom! She agreed, so we delivered Chance to her. He needed to be confined and he was so tiny, he stayed in a guinea pig cage. I came over daily to give him his meds. My cousin – another devoted animal lover – stopped by a few times while on her way home from work to give him some attention. He learned about “kitty toys” from her.
Chance was very shy but intrigued with these “bestowers of food and toys.” He would periscope up any time someone came into the room so he could see what was going on. And, much to his surprise, he loved being stroked even if he wasn’t sure what it was all about.
He finished his antibiotics and shortly after that he was strong enough to receive his initial vaccinations. He stayed a bit longer with her to let them take effect. Although she was enjoying Chance, my aunt – to her shock – was allergic to him so it was time for him to move on.
After nearly starving to death, Chance was obsessed with food. Unfortunately, he also had a metabolic set-point that was now incredibly low. This is a phenomenon we see in starved animals (or people). The body gets highly effective at hanging on to every calorie it is given, which can result in rapid and substantial weight gain. And this is what happened with Chance. At first, we were thrilled! But, after awhile he kept gaining and, by the time he was an adult, he was obese. We tried low calorie food, to no avail. Strangely, he would not eat canned food, so our “trick” of adding water to the bowl of food, making it soupy, to help fill him up could not be used. Finally, his body did settle in on what it thought his “ideal” weight should be and he stopped gaining. He was 18 pounds. Some cats are designed to be that big. He was not. We laughed ironically to ourselves that we had asked for this. Most of us initially did not think he could be saved, even as we fervently tried. But inside, we all thought “fat chance this kitten is going to make it.” So, now he was Fat Chance. He was a giant, but a gentle giant. Despite all the love and attention from my aunt and my cousin, he remained very much afraid of people he did not know. He does not like being picked up to this day. He was an adorable clown with people he knew and had the World’s Loudest Purr. But, in his photos he looked so serious. He was definitely not a cat who could attend an adoption fair, and although he was listed for adoption, there wasn’t a lot of interest. Like so many other wonderful cats, he was passed over by people looking for “a cute kitten” or an “adult lap cat.”
But, as timid as he was with people, he “never met a stranger” when it came to other cats. He fit right in with the revolving door of rescue kittens and old hospice kitties that rolled through. I had not-so-secretly fallen in love with him. But I still had my own cats, who were getting old. And the only rescue kitties that stayed with me were the therapy cats and the medical/hospice cats, and he was neither. But Chance, apparently, had his own ideas about his future.