Soda was a very lovely and lively kitten when I adopted her from SPCA San Francisco. She was the last of her litter, and in fact the last kitten at the SPCA to be adopted. She was a bit of a runt, a very small and frail kitten. I really wanted two kittens, but alas there was only one. As I was adopting her, someone decided not to adopt another kitten, so a black and white spotted kitten was also now available. I jumped at the chance and adopted him too. But I wanted to make sure they would get along, so I had the workers put him into her room to see how they interacted. The black and white kitten immediately jumped on top of the white kitten, and the white kitten just opened her eyes, looked at him, rolled her eyes, and went back to sleep. I knew they would be ok.
Once I got them home, I began thinking of cute names. Scotch and Soda came to mind (even though I prefer wine) and the names stuck. As it turns out, our frail little kitten turned out to be the brave one of the two. She was happy to have a new home, and she was a loving kitten. And then, something happened.
Soda got sick. I noticed she had stopped eating and drinking, and she wasn’t going potty. I called the vet and they said to bring her in right away. When I did, the doctor came back and said there is good news and bad news. The good news is we got there in time as her kidneys were beginning to shut down. The doctor said that they could admit her into the hospital for a couple of days. Full IV medications, hydration, and 24/7 care and she would be ok. The bad news, it would not be cheap by any means. The vet asked me what I wanted to do. I looked puzzled and said what do you mean, the vet said what do you want to do? I said, OOOHHH, I understand. I want you to “fix” the kitten. She was in the hospital for a little over two days. When she was released, I took her home and she weighed just under 2 pounds.
After that incident, the lively friendly little kitten became a lot more reserved, introverted, and not too friendly. She would hiss and meow when you pick her up (she still does that a lot, but less). But, she went through a lot. I believe her learning ability also suffered from the sickness. It takes her about 1 year after her brother Scotch learns something new. She emulates him, but it takes her longer. For example, we taught Scotch to do head bump (tap his head into a fist) in order to get back rub last year, she just recently learned that skill.
Over time, and with a lot of love, she is slowly beginning to open up again. Today she is a healthy 10 pound cat. She had opened up significantly in the pass year as we made a couple trips to see the vet. As a result, she learned to travel in her car carrier better, and not scream for the 45 minute trip. She is getting more used to it and we can’t wait to take her on an airplane, LOL. Throughout the vet visits and couple other trips, we made sure she knew we were there with her and petted her often. She is more energetic now, and likes to play with her mousey and run while we have tv and family time in the evening. She also enjoys these activities about 3 in the morning, which is less cute for us!
So Be patient humom and dads out there. Think about what they been through as kittens without a home and love. When dealing with animals, you really have to be patient. I’ve grown up with animals around me, I found that no matter what kind of animal you have, once you give them love and care, they will give it back.
She is a very brave kitty compared to her size and her brother. She is the one that’s always wants to see outside of the condo. She will be by the door when she know we are going out then she will stick her head out look outside when we open the door then make a pride run back in the condo like a victory. It maybe because she is now a mature female and yes we are going to get her a bra cause ….take a look at her photo below lol. If we have company over, she is the first one out from under the bed to see what’s going on. Doesn’t mean she wants the company to pet her (sometimes though), but she’s not afraid to check it out. This is something her brother should emulate from her!
Soda is now living with her cow cat brother in a warm loving family. And she will never be abandoned and homeless again. – Soda’s Dad
Can’t get enough of Soda? You can see more of her journey with her brother by visiting her brother’s website TheCowCat.org, being friend with this family through their Facebook and Instagram @Scotch_TheCowCat.