Austin Cat Adoption Success: Messi story

Hi, I’m Quin Whiddon and probably by now you already know a little bit about me. And as you know, along with my husband Alex Whiddon from A Whiddon Construction we are building my dream Sanctuary, Sydney’s Lounge, a safe and loving space for rescue cats in Austin. But what I really want to share in this special blog post is the story of a very lucky cat named Messi.

It all started one morning while Alex was working at the construction site. When was opening the area, a tiny gray-and-white kitten passed him and hid in a ditch. He was clearly in bad shape, scared, and malnourished. Although the kitten ran away before Alex could help, he knew he couldn’t just leave him like that. He had a chance to take a photo and send it to me. What a coincidence to see a feral cat in a place that soon will be a cage-free heaven for cats!

Over the next few weeks, Alex began leaving food two or three times a day. This is the first step to adopt a stray cat. Slowly, the kitten started warming up. He was still small, frightened, and unsure, but eventually he let Alex and the workers pet him. Every morning, the kitten would be waiting for his meal, his trust growing a little more each day. It was clear that he didn’t have any owner because apparently he stayed at the construction site with no other place to go.

After about three weeks, the kitten finally allowed me to pet him and the first thing you want to do in this case is take the cat to a vet so they can take a closer look and check if it’s female or male, the age, if it has a chip and health status. I took him across the street to PAZ East Veterinary Clinic, which will be our partners once Sydney’s Cat Lounge opens. At that point, I didn’t know if the kitten was a boy or a girl, I just wanted to make sure he was all good because I saw he didn’t have hair in his nose and some parts of the ears.