Pumpkin’s Story
The story of Pumpkin the cat, our inspiration behind starting the rescue and wanting to help cats/kittens including those with infectious diseases like Pumpkin. Story told by our founder, Ashley Lee.
October 4th, 2017 was a Wednesday. It was my first year of teaching, and the school that I taught was an hour away and in a different city than from where I was living. At the time, I still l was still lived at home and our space consisted of my mom, our pug and my senior cat. I got home about 7:00pm that day. I got out of my car and noticed a blur of orange move from under one of the neighboring cars. Bending down to get a better look, I discovered that it was an orange and white DSH (Domestic Short Hair) tabby cat.
This TNR (Trap Neuter and Release) orange and white boy was SUPER SOCIAL. He rubbed his chin on me, “head bonked”, purred and did anything he could for attention. That night I made him an outdoor cat shelter, fed him and gave him attention until I had to call it a night. My feline friend made another appearance three days later utilizing my handmade shelter to stay out of the pouring rain and the cooler weather. It became a routine of this for a few weeks of me filling the food bowl up and making sure his shelter stayed dry. I even put in a heated pet bed that was safe for cats. Inspired by his orange fur and it being October when I found him, is the reason that I named him Pumpkin.
Pumpkin and his cat sister Alice
Once November arrived, the weather had a cold snap. Everyone was advised by the media to bring their pets indoors. While I knew my senior cat would not approve, I knew I had to take care of my orange cat too. Throughout winter, I utilized the ** “Eat, Play, Love” strategy to introduce Pumpkin to my senior cat, Alice.
March 2018, Pumpkin went to the vet for a wellness exam and he tested positive for Feline Leukemia. At the time I didn’t know anything about Feline Leukemia (FeLV), but the doctor explained that on average FeLV + cats live about 2.5-3 years after their diagnosis and there currently is no cure for FeLV. August 2018, I moved out from home. Alice and Pumpkin came with me. Soon after John moved in and Pumpkin became a “Cat Dad’s boy”.
Pumpkin was full of love for his Cat Mom and Cat Dad. He loved the simple things in life such as treats, shoelaces, naps on his cat dad and watching for cars out the window.
Orange Tabby cats are very vocal, and Pumpkin was no different. His chirpy purr, and deep meows also made him the kindest wake up call for his cat dad. He saved his paws and claws for Cat Mom’s face in the morning. Our life with Pumpkin brought a lot of new things. He was our first TNR stray, our first male cat, John’s first cat, and our first cat with Feline Leukemia. Our 18lb Pumpkin also happened to be missing some of his bottom teeth. Pumpkin still holds the record for the largest cat bleps (tongue sticking out) we have ever seen.
March of 2020, Pumpkin had an increased respiratory rate. I rushed him to our wonderful vet, and they were able to stabilize Pumpkin with a bronchodilator and an oxygen chamber. He saw an internal medicine specialist the next day who was able to provide Pumpkin with some relief after removing fluid from his chest.
April brought more respiratory issues, anemia, lethargy, a fever, elevated liver levels, enlarged kidneys and with that Pumpkin was given a very poor prognosis from the internal medicine specialist. His medical opinion was that the Feline Leukemia was the cause. Pumpkin was hospitalized for multiple nights and we had to make the hardest decision to let our boy cross the “rainbow bridge”.
Our hearts may hurt, but his lungs and body no longer do. Ultimately it was the right decision after seeing how much the leukemia took over and how hard it was for him to breathe. We are thankful we got to hear one last purr from him before we had to have him humanely euthanized.
It’s hard to put into words how much joy Pumpkin brought into our lives. I imagine that it is like every year when I carve a pumpkin, I realize there are a lot more seeds than I predicted. Pumpkin the cat had so many things that we loved about him, more than anyone could have ever predicted about a stray cat. Though we did not get as much time with Pumpkin as we wanted, we gave him his forever home for the time that he did have. There will never be anything orange or pumpkin themed that doesn’t remind me of our special boy.
Pumpkin
10/4/2017 "’Found you Day”- 4/30/2020
