A tiny rescue kitten and his brother have landed on their paws in a new home with the ‘happiest family’ including two cat lovers and a cohort of rescue moggies.
In September, the RSPCA was contacted by a dog warden in Slough who needed an urgent space for a tiny kitten with one eye and a cleft lip after a mum, dad and two sibling cats had been handed into the local council.
A vet check revealed that the ginger kitten – said to be 12-weeks-old – was in good health but was extremely small for his age. The vets believe Benny was born with one eye but has no other issues, except for being exceptionally small.
Benny, the tiny one-eyed kitten who has a new home in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: RSPCA
Bury St Edmunds foster carers Sam Dye and Hannah Grimwood took him in, along with his brother, who is about four times bigger.
The kittens were named Benny and Teddy and have remained inseparable.
Sam said: “They’re wonderful cats, really spectacular. We definitely made the right choice and they have settled in so well.”
Benny, the tiny one-eyed kitten who has settled into a new home in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: RSPCABenny, the tiny one-eyed kitten who has a new home in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: RSPCA
Along with Benny and Teddy, Sam and Hannah also have three other cats: Charlie, a seven-year-old female; Tony, who is blind and was rescued from Dubai; and Merlin, who was adopted from Cats Protection.
Sam explained how they ended up caring for their five cats, adding: “We liked cats and Charlie was Hannah’s cat but when we got Tony everything changed. Tony sparked some sort of love in our hearts for these kinds of cats as he is just the nicest, most loving cat in the world. He loves nothing more than to sit and lick you. He will sit there for hours if he can. I don’t know if it’s because he’s blind or just his way but that’s why we wanted to find a friend for him.
“We got Merlin but Merlin is an outside cat now. Tony will go out into the garden when it’s nice but Merlin can roam free, so we really wanted a companion for Tony and that’s when we saw Benny and Teddy.
Benny, the tiny one-eyed kitten who has a new home in Bury St Edmunds, and his brother Teddy. Picture: RSPCABenny, the tiny one-eyed kitten who has a new home in Bury St Edmunds, and his brother Teddy. Picture: RSPCA
“We were sitting on the sofa and Hannah saw a Facebook post about them. We knew we had to have them! They looked lovely and like they would fit in well with our other cats and nice for Tony to have another partially sighted cat as Benny has one eye.
“We live on a farm so there is plenty of room – if I could have more I would but there’s not enough room on the bed. They all sleep on the bed with us, in between me and my partner.”
Sam said Benny and Teddy were rarely apart – playing, sleeping and cleaning together, while Tony and Merlin also take turns looking after Benny.
Benny, the tiny one-eyed kitten has settled into his new home in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: RSPCABenny, the tiny one-eyed kitten has settled into his new home in Bury St Edmunds. Picture: RSPCA
Sam said: “His size or having one eye doesn’t seem to impact Benny too much but he is a very loud sleeper – he only has one nostril so it can get quite blocked up.
“Benny is still the most active out of all of our cats. He does struggle with depth perception. It took a while for him to be able to jump on the bed and he struggles to jump up on the kitchen counter.
“He has grown loads but still looks like a young kitten. He now looks like the age he should have looked when we first adopted him.”
If you think you could adopt a rescue cat, go to www.rspca.org.uk/findapet