💔 Introducing Thumbelina 🤍

THUMBELINA IS FINALLY READY FOR HER OWN HOME — OR EVEN A FOSTER HOME!!

Thumbelina is a very interesting little cat. She’s adorable, quirky, a little complicated, and after spending about a year with us, she is SO ready to have a home where she can finally be someone’s special girl.

Thumbelina came to us as an older kitten, and she is unfortunately a great example of single kitten syndrome.  Our best guess is that she spent her first months without another kitten teaching her all those important little lessons about boundaries and appropriate play…and then she was abandoned. So someone else created the issues and, as is so often the case in rescue, they are now our issues.  But, we love her anyway. 

Shortly after we first took her in, Thumbelina was diagnosed with a luxating patella, meaning her kneecap was slipping in and out of place. We spent months trying to find somewhere that could perform the surgery without it costing close to $10,000, and eventually we found Quakertown Veterinary Hospital, where we were offered a much more manageable rescue price.

Her first surgery was postponed because her white blood cell count was elevated. After several more months and a bunch of scheduling complications, she finally went back last month ready to have it done and we got some GREAT news!!

The surgeon examined her and felt that she no longer needed the surgery! It appears her body may have developed enough tissue around the knee to stabilize it, and since she isn’t showing signs of pain or discomfort, his recommendation was basically: if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

So Thumbelina is officially ON THE MARKET!

There is one important caveat: if her knee ever does become a problem and surgery is recommended in the future, our rescue will have the surgery performed through Quakertown Veterinary Hospital and cover that expense. The veterinarian has also agreed to honor the rescue pricing previously given to us.

Now, about Thumbelina herself…

First of all, she’s ridiculously cute. She has a normal-sized body with adorably short little legs and ENORMOUS feet. We originally thought she might be polydactyl, but she just has really, really big toes. Add in that beautiful little face and she’s quite the package.

Personality-wise, Thumbelina has some quirks — and we’re going to be completely upfront about them because we want to find the right home, not just any home.

She’s not crazy about other cats. She currently lives with a LOT of them but we can tell it’s stressful for her. We think she’d be happiest as an only cat or possibly with one or two easygoing, cat-friendly cats who will respect her space.

She prefers a low-sided litter box. Maybe it’s her short legs, maybe it’s her knee history, or maybe she simply has strong opinions about litter-box architecture. Give her a low box and she’s perfectly happy.

And last but not least, she occasionally gives little love bites.  They don’t break the skin and they don’t seem aggressive at all. In fact, she tends to do it when I’m sitting at my computer ignoring her — she’ll come over and give me a tiny nip as if to say, “HELLO? Remember me??”

We really think that last behavior could improve tremendously in the right environment but, just to be on the safe side, we are looking for an adult only home for her because of this issue. 

Thumbelina WANTS interaction. She wants attention. She wants someone to play with her. She wants to be part of what’s happening. But because she isn’t comfortable joining in when I’m playing with a room full of other cats, she misses out on a lot of the stimulation and one-on-one attention that she needs.

And that’s the part that makes me really sad. My home simply isn’t the right home for her but it’s all she has .

We truly believe that somewhere with fewer cats, where someone can play with her, interact with her, give her attention and let her actually become part of the family, we would see a different Thumbelina blossom.

She has waited long enough.

She has gotten through her medical concerns.

She has grown up.

She is fully vetted.

And she is READY.

Now we just need someone willing to give this quirky, short-legged, giant-footed little girl the chance she deserves.

We would LOVE a permanent adopter, but we would also be incredibly grateful for a foster home where Thumbelina could get out of this multi-cat environment and show us who she really is.

Please consider opening your home to her — permanently or as a foster.

Thumbelina deserves so much more than what we can give her here. She just needs someone to give her the chance to show what an amazing little companion she can be.

You can complete an adoption application form here.