Crosby’s Story…The Early Years

Once upon a time in August 2019, there was a little 4 month old kitty living inside a small house with 87 other cats. There was a ripped open bag of cat food on the floor and everyone fought for a chance to eat. There was doo-doo everywhere as the litter boxes were overflowing. This was so scary for the little guy who didn’t even know who his mommy or daddy were. There were so many adult cats…and unfortunately some deceased ones too.

A nice lady lived there, but she was too old to take care of so many cats. Many were sick with upper respiratory illnesses, eye infections, internal & external parasites, eye ulcers as well as skin, eye and ear infections.She had started a sanctuary years earlier to rescue cats that were left outside. Then people started dumping off more. She couldn’t afford to get the cats spayed/neutered, so they kept breeding and before she knew it, 6-month old babies were having babies. It eventually got out of control with in-breeding and illness.

One day some vans and Sheriff cars pulled up. Nice people in navy blue shirts with wings on the back that said ARC came into the house with the Sheriff. They spoke with the owner and asked if she was willing to release the animals to ARC, Animal Rescue Corps, who would take care of them, give them medical care and find the cats forever homes with kind people who would take care of them. She agreed so “Operation Feline Freedom” began.

The ARC Angels spent hours identifying each animal, putting an ID tag on each cage, and gently picking up 88 cats and kittens. They put them in cages with soft blankets and loaded them into their vans for transport to their Rescue Operations Center in Lebanon, TN. Most of the cats were around 2 years old, but there were also some kittens including the tiny, scared baby.

At ARC, the volunteers were quickly building large cages for each cat, with a litter box, clean bedding, toys, fresh water and food. There was a kitten room, a maternity ward for the 8-10 pregnant mommas, a hospital ward for the very sick and infectious cats and a general population room with females on one side and males on the other.

Next step, the vet staff checked out each cat and prepared a medical record starting with weight, name and approximate age.

Wait – did someone say names? They only had ID numbers on their cages. But that wasn’t how ARC operated – each cat would be named. But what series would have 88 different names? Ah-ha…celebrities!! So the naming began. They came up with Cher, Gaga, Pacino, Rihanna, Miley, Nikki, Elton, Demi, Brad, Jagger, Madonna, Robert Redford, Elvis and many more. Then they came to a cage with a black & white sweet little boy, just sitting quietly, looking at them. They opened the cage and picked him up as he quickly snuggled against a warm neck. They looked at the list of names and said “This is Crosby.”

Crosby stayed in the kitten room and was given medication for eye infections, internal parasites and upper respiratory illnesses. Volunteers came in daily to clean the cages that housed about 15 kittens in all colors, shapes and sizes. They played with them to begin the so-important socialization process as a 1st step towards adoption. They held each one, petting and grooming them, as there were no momma kitties here to help. The kittens were all eating mush or kitten food, growing stronger each day.

There was a volunteer named Rosie who was one of many that came in to help take care of the cats in Operation Feline Freedom after hearing about it on local news. She would take care of the maternity ward mommas waiting to give birth; sometimes the general population; sometimes the kitten room. She loved them all, but Crosby was special. Maybe it was his sweet, quiet demeanor, or soft fluffy fur, or the way he snuggled against her. Crosby stole her heart.

One day Rosie came in to start her rounds and was in the kitten room – but there was no Crosby. She asked a supervisor where he might be and was told he had ringworm. They had moved him into the hospital ward with the other ringworm patients. If she wanted to visit him, she would have to wear a surgical gown, shoe covers, hair cover and gloves. The next day a little round circle showed up on her neck, right where Crosby had been cuddling. Her doctor prescribed an ointment and said it would clear up in 2-3 weeks. So Rosie garbed up and offered to clean and take of the kitties in the hospital ward for a few extra minutes to hold Crosby.

This became a daily routine, until one day Rosie opened the door and Crosby was nowhere to be found! A staff member shared that Kentucky Humane Society had come down the night before and selected 14 cats to take back to Louisville for adoption… and Crosby was one of them! Rosie broke down, realizing how much she had fallen in love with the little guy. She called KHS and after being transferred multiple times, got to the Intake Dept. They indeed had Crosby, and were giving him a new vet check, and once they deemed him healthy, he would be neutered and put on their online adoption page. Rosie explained the situation about not knowing he was ready to be transferred from ARC, and wanting to adopt him. They agreed to hold him for her but suggested she watch their online page as well.

Rosie watched the page daily as well as checking in by phone to let them know she still wanted him. Then one day she was scrolling through her phone and – BOOM – there was Crosby’s picture on the live online adoption page! Rosie quickly called them, asked what had happened – her name was supposed to be on his record to call when he was available to adopt! They apologized, said if she could put up $25, they would hold him for 24 hours. Rosie was working, so her husband, Ted called them back and gave them a credit card # for the hold. He called Rosie back quickly to say they would be leaving at 6am the next morning for the 3 hour drive to Louisville from Nashville to pick up Crosby.

The drive up couldn’t end soon enough, as they finally pulled into Kentucky Humane Society. Inside, they saw Crosby sitting quietly in a cage. The bond was instant, as first Ted, then Rosie hugged their little boy. Paperwork completed, they put Crosby in a cage and headed for home. Poor Crosby was meowing in his still-kitty voice (which has never changed, by the way) so Rosie opened up the cage door. He stopped crying, and slowly crawled in her lap, then started looking out the window at clouds, trees, birds, cars and people. They then realized this was the first time Crosby had ever seen the outside – he was born inside a house with drapes always drawn; he was caged, put in a windowless van and taken to the Rescue Center which was a large warehouse facility; the kitten room & hospital ward had no windows; then he was transported to Kentucky Humane Society and housed inside a building. So blue sky, sunshine and our beautiful world were all new to him. Rosie even captured a picture of Crosby sitting on top of his cage instead of inside it with a big smile on his face!

And so it began…Crosby’s life with Rosie and Ted. Stay tuned for future chapters in the blog.