13th Street Cat Rescue

Grant

Wonderful Update on Grant:
Click Here To Read Grant's Mercury News Story

Linda Goldston: Cat rescue story with a happy ending By Linda Goldston Mercury News Posted: 01/09/2009 03:27:22 PM PST How many times can a poor cat be abandoned and still end up happy and mellow? For a three-legged cat named Grant, at least three or four. No one knows much about his early years, but at some point Grant, a gorgeous black cat, was adopted by an alcohol recovery home and then abandoned when the program closed. Later a woman found Grant and several other cats, including an elderly one with severe arthritis, near Interstate 880 and The Alameda in San Jose, clearly homeless and badly in need of care. Town Cats took some of them, but a black one with a bad limp needed a little more coaching. Joanne Santner of 13th Street Cat Rescue kept feeding him and finally was able to get the cat in a carrier. But his right front leg was in very bad shape. After a veterinarian advised that even costly surgery to repair the limb would leave Grant with a lot of problems, Joanne and the doctor agreed the best course was amputation. Grant needed a place to recover — and adjust to having just three legs — and Joanne had just the right foster home for him: with Dan Asch, Masayo Ito and their young son, Alex. Dan and Masayo, who had been serving as foster parents for rescued cats for about a year, were willing to provide extra attention and care for Grant. His leg was so painful before the surgery "he had partially adjusted to just having three," Dan said, "since he couldn't put any weight on that leg. Once they removed the leg, he didn't have to be so careful about protecting it. "There were a few days where he was in obvious pain, and I was the big meanie who gave him his medicine," Dan continued. "He kind of went into hiding for a while." As Grant got better and started coming out of his hiding places to play with the couple's 8-month-old kitten, Tama, "he'd try to swat at Tama with a leg he didn't have," Dan said. "You could see his shoulder moving, but there was no leg there." Tama and Grant were kept separated for a while after his surgery, but then the frisky kitten took over, and Tama started attacking Grant's tail, as kittens will. But she also started grooming him. When Grant tried to groom his front end himself, he sometimes fell over. Grant improved so much that Dan and Joanne decided he was ready to leave the safety of the foster home and be put up for adoption. He was with a new family for about a month before it returned him to 13th Street Cat Rescue, saying there had been a change in their living situation. Dan and his family were delighted to have Grant with them again, and Dan, Masayo and Alex have decided they don't want to be foster parents for rescued cats anymore: They wanted to keep Grant and little Tama. "Grant started out as such a scared, introverted, injured and dirty cat," Dan said. "Through the painful surgery and recovery process, his intelligence and patience became so clear. When he was returned to us, he really opened up, becoming more playful and communicative. "We couldn't bear to leave him again, so we adopted him." Now, Grant and Tama spend their days napping and playing, and Grant has shown he can jump more gracefully and more on target than the kitten. "He can also run well," Dan said. It's always nice to have a rescue story with a happy ending. I never get over being so moved by humans and animals who are able to overcome much adversity and still remain friendly and loving.