WEDNESDAY, Dec. 30, 2015 – A special-needs, super survivor kitten is getting adopted today by a family that knows all about survival.
Matt and Simone Tipton, an Orange County couple, have two children, including a 2-year-old daughter who was born with a rare form of cancer that ultimately led to an amputation. Scarlette was just 10 months old in October 2014 when her left arm was removed. She is in recovery mode to this day, but her parents have been told she is cancer free.
As part of her ongoing journey of recovery, Scarlette’s parents had been searching for a kitten for her. But not just any kitten. They specifically sought out a kitten that had to have an amputation surgery too.
Enter Holly, the amazing survivor of a traumatic injury earlier this month. Who knows exactly what caused Holly’s severe injury. Holly was possibly caught up in a fan belt of a car engine. (In winter months it’s very common for stray cats to climb inside car engines to keep warm at night.)
If not for two kind women in Perris, Edith Rios and her daughter-in-law, Kelley Gonzalez, who spotted Holly bleeding next to some shrubs, the kitten would have likely died. The women rushed the kitten to Riverside County’s San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus in San Jacinto on Dec. 17. It was there Holly received immediate care and the eventual amputation of her right front leg. She has been monitored daily and appears to have made a great recovery.
Last week, Riverside County Animal Services put out a news release about Holly’s traumatic event and recovery and the story was picked up by several media outlets. The Tiptons got word of the story and drove to the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus on Christmas Eve to adopt Holly. Although the family could not take her home that day, the shelter employees told the Tiptons that Holly was all theirs – as soon as she fully recovered from the surgery.
When Scarlette first met the 3-month-old, gray-and-white Holly, she told her mother, “owie,” pointing to the kitten’s injury. “Yes,” Ms. Tipton told her daughter. “Yes, an owie. Just like you. But she’s OK – just like you are too.”
Today marks the official adoption day. The Tiptons will be at the San Jacinto Valley Animal Campus (581 S. Grand Ave., San Jacinto) at about 3 p.m. Public Information Officer John Welsh will shoot pictures and video and will provide footage to media outlets requesting the footage.
For more about Scarlette’s journey of survival, please visit the Facebook page her parents started on her behalf, titled Smiles for Scarlette: https://www.facebook.com/smilesforscarlette/?fref=ts
If you missed the news release about Holly the Kitty the first go around, here’s a link to photos and the news release.
