Two blind kittens who were rescued from a builders’ yard and were reunited in a ‘Christmas miracle’ last winter are now living the life in a wonderful new home with other special needs cats.
Ginger kitten Gabriel – named after the Christmas angel – was 14-weeks-old when he was found straying in Peterlee, County Durham, and rescued by the RSPCA just days before Christmas (on 20 December 2020).
Inspector Krissy Raine, who rescued him, said: “We believe poor Gabriel lost both of his eyes after having cat flu as a tiny kitten and that left him with empty eye sockets. After telling one of my colleagues about his story we realised she’d rescued another little kitten from the same area a few weeks before and that they were brothers.
“It was so wonderful to reunite them; it was a Christmas miracle. They instantly recognised each other and it was really heartwarming to know that they had each other again.”
Gabriel underwent surgery to stitch his eyes shut to prevent any possible future infections.
Ginger and white kitten Arthur had been rescued six weeks earlier from the same site and needed surgery to remove one of his eyes, which had been damaged by entropion (a painful condition where the eyelid turns inward and the eyelashes rub on the eye). Sadly, during surgery, vets found Arthur’s second eye was also damaged and they made the difficult decision to remove this eye too.
Staff at the RSPCA Cat Hub* – which cared for the kittens – were concerned about how hard it might be to find a home for a pair of blind kittens together – but when experienced cat owner Helen Marritt (44) from County Durham and her family came forward, it was a match made in heaven.
Helen, Andy and 16-year-old daughter Willow fell in love with adopting special needs cats after taking on one-eyed Greebo, who had a broken leg.
Helen said: “He needed lots of love and care to recover; he’d had such a bad start in life and was really nervous around us and our other cats. Slowly he started healing and became my little shadow, as well as forming really strong bonds with all our other cats. It was both really rewarding to see him come so far in a short time, but also to know that we’d given him a safe and happy little life, as nobody else had wanted to adopt him.
