CHEEKY & FRANKIE

For four months, we fed and took care of Cheeky and Frankie, the two female orphaned kittens we found last summer, trying to fend for themselves on the side of a jogging path. On November 1st we could finally rescue them just in time to have them spayed before they’d go into heat and get pregnant.

Great sacrifices were made so that Cheeky and Frankie could survive being out there on their own, but it was no longer enough, we had to do something to avoid the suffering of countless unwanted kittens that were soon to be born.

At first, our plan was to TNR, have them spayed and released back to the place where we raised them. Considering our extremely challenging housing and financial situation, as we continue fighting eviction and without the necessary means to rent a new place, TNR was the only possible solution we could think of.

RELATED: Cheeky and Frankie trapped to be spayed!

However, after their spay surgery and during the 10-day post op recovery process they spent at the sanctuary, they started acting nothing like feral kittens but more like loving house cats, wanting our attention (especially Cheeky), enjoying their comfy beds and warm blankets, loving their toys, kneading, and purring away. Seeing them so happy after such a rough start in life and all they’ve been through since they were just babies, made us emotional.

As days went by, the more they enjoyed the safety and warmth of a home, the more hopeless Jackie and I felt, knowing it had to come to an end. We’d look at each other and wonder how we’d manage to leave them to their fate on the streets again; just the thought of it was unbearable.

But what other option did we have? How could we offer them a safe “forever” home knowing we are at risk of eviction?

Adopting them out was not an option either. We live in a place that is a highly truistic destination where there is just one small animal shelter that is overflooded with abandoned animals and a few private rescue groups with hundreds of unwanted kittens waiting for adopters. Not to mention how traumatic adopting them out would have been for them and for us as well, after all these months caring for them since they were tiny kittens.

The feeling that these innocent lives are in our hands and their future depends on the decisions we make, is a heavy burden and responsibility on our shoulders, especially in our current economically precarious situation.

Last month, what happened to Blacky left us broken-hearted; we made the wrong decision, and he lost his life within 48 hours. Jackie and I went through hell after such a tragic loss and just as our hearts were somehow starting to heal, we find ourselves having to make another life-or-death decision again, about the fate of these two little girls.

So, welcome to the Change One Life family, Cheeky and Frankie!