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| Name: |
Oreo
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Age: |
1 1/2 years old
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| Gender: |
Male
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Kind: |
Domestic Long Hair
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| Home: |
Boucherville, Quebec, Canada |
The
Oreo Cat is an Internet-famous cat who uses his fame to help support his
local cat rescue. Oreo is also a Paw Project spokescat, helping to spread the
word to end feline declawing.
Oreo was found along with his sister Patches by my sister and brother-in-law
in his parent's back yard one summer day, alone with no Mom. My
brother-in-law waited around all day, watching to see if the kittens' mother
would return for them. Unfortunately, no mother came for them. As the clouds
rolled in and a heavy rain started, my brother-in-law decided to bring the
kittens home and care for them. They were quite small and needed to be bottle
fed and helped to go to the bathroom.
Both my sister and brother-in-law cared for them for three days, until my
sister's allergies became too severe. The moment that I had seen the pictures
on my sister's facebook page, I told her that if they needed a place to stay,
they were welcome in our home. We have three adult cats, and a big house with
plenty of room. I work from home as a Children's Illustrator, so was
available to be around to take care of the kittens. After those three days,
my sister called me, I immediately accepted to take them and my
brother-in-law brought them over. I checked them for fleas upon entering the
house, and had arranged a spot for them to our local animal refuge. Upon
meeting them and confirming that they did not have fleas, however, my husband
and I decided to keep them and care for them while I tried to get them adopted.
Inquiries about the two kittens came almost instantly after posting pictures
and a video of each online. Patches was almost immediately adopted by one of
my childhood family friends, as gift for my friend's father-in-law who lived
alone in a small apartment in the city. I agreed to keep Patches for six
weeks, until she no longer needed to be bottle fed. Oreo was half the size of
Patches, and Patches herself was quite small. They were both able to fit into
the palm of your hand. Patches was quite feisty and strong, and in the weeks
to come she became very protective of her brother Oreo. Oreo on the other
hand, was extremely weak, didn't meow at all, and had trouble feeding. If
anyone were to adopt Oreo, they would have to have the time and know-how to
care for him adequately. A couple of days later, I recieved an inquiry from a
girl whose sister's cat just lost her litter of kittens. The mother cat was
still full of milk. This seemed to be a Godsend and was the perfect solution
for Oreo. Being with a mother cat who could properly care for him would be
the best thing.
I consulted with my husband on the subject of Oreo's adoption. He had become
extremely attached to Oreo. I told my husband that if he wanted to keep Oreo,
it was fine with me. He agreed, however, that being with a mother cat who
could care for and feed him was probably the best. So I scheduled for Oreo to
be picked up by the girl and her sister the next day at noon.
The next morning, my husband woke up at dawn to get ready for his work day.
Before leaving, he checked on the two kittens asleep in their boxes. I got up
right after my husband left and went to check on the kittens and prepare
their morning bottle. To my horror, I found Oreo lying face down in his box.
He was not breathing. There was diarrhea all over the box and all over him. I
picked him up and quickly checked for a heartbeat. His heart was still
beating, but very faintly, no breath was coming out of his nose. I brought
him to the bathroom and washed him off in warm water. and wrapped him in
blanket. I called my husband, crying, and told him that I thought Oreo was
going to die. My husband then said that when he checked the kittens that
morning, Oreo was lying in the litter box. He moved Oreo over and thought the
kitten was sleeping, but had a weird feeling. I tried my best not to panic,
it was early and my veterinary clinic was not yet open. There were no animal
hospitals close by either. I had been trained in First Aid and CPR years ago
... But for humans, not cats! Then I remembered... I had seen something on TV
the week before showing how to perform animal CPR and mouth-to-nose on pets.
I put Oreo on his side on the floor, checked for airway obstruction, extended
his little teeny neck and began to breathe into his nose while keeping his
mouth closed. After what seemed like forever, a small snort and a breath came
out of him ... he was breathing again! I called my veterinary clinic and left
a message asking if I could bring Oreo in as soon as possible. Thankfully,
the nurse was there early, she answered and told me to bring him in
immediately.
The nurse took Oreo in right away and placed him in a heated blanked that sat
on top of pairs of rubber gloves filled with hot water. The nurse did her
best to care for Oreo while awaiting the veterinarian's arrival. The clinic
graciously put aside other morning appointments to give Oreo's situation top
priority. Oreo spent the day at the clinic and came back to us that evening.
After this whole ordeal, my husband and I decided to keep Oreo. Our home then
became his forever home.
It took many of the following weeks to bring Oreo back to full health. He and
his sister both had a parasite which caused them both to be ill. However,
Oreo's sister Patches was strong enough to fight everything off quite
quickly. For Oreo, the process was quite long and slow. Many weeks were spent
giving him intensive care and attention, which included feedings around the
clock. This resulted in many nights spent with little to no sleep until Oreo
pulled through. We are happy to say that he is now a healthy and happy
kitten, and growing up to be a great cat!
Oreo has changed our lives forever and brought us both lots of joy and
laughter. Our lives would not be complete without him. He is a very special
cat. Oreo has brought out the best in both my husband and I. He has inspired
each of us to be creative in our own individual ways.
Oreo has two books published:
The Oreo Cat: Bacons and Other Stuff (published October 2014) Dedicated to
The Paw Project, this book is a collection of jokes, short stories and poems
all in the spirit of "cat logic"! Part of the proceeds from each book sold
are donated to The Paw Project!
The Oreo Cat: THINK-Pawsitive (published Jan 31, 2015) A collection of jokes,
poems and short educational lessons all about cats! This book was created in
collaboration with Paw Project - Utah in an effort to help teach kids about declawing.
The Oreo Cat has helped to establish our own branch of The Paw Project in
Quebec. Currently, The Oreo Cat is involved with fundraisers to raise funds
to donate his books to elementary school classes in an effort to teach kids
about declawing.
Visit Oreo's website for articles, information, and other links. He is a very special cat.
See more images of Oreo!
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