Found love: photo by artist Casey Hill, posted on deviantART

First things first. How pretty is he? And did you fall instantly in love? Or did it take a second? For the couple who rescued this kitty, and for me, it was instant. The photo alone totally tugged at my heart strings, and then there was more. The artist who took this photo shared the amazing love story behind the image. I’m reprinting the artist’s comments below, and if you click on the kitten pic you will be taken to the original where you should definitely leave a comment if you’re so moved. Thank you Casey for the awesome love you’ve shared with Odin and with us by telling your story. It makes a difference in the world!

Artist’s Comments

Odin is an amazingly special cat. Named for the one-eyed God of Thunder, Odin has a journey of a story which I feel compelled to share with those of you who are interested to listen.         

Odin had a hard life at the beginning, born to an abusive, neglectful family, he was an outside cat who got more than his share of beatings from both animals and people nearby. Scars are apparent on his ears, and especially his nose, of past battles. However, Odin wasn’t brought into the shelter until his eye was shot out with a pellet gun, possibly by his previous owner or a neighborhood kid. 

The shelter removed the pellet, but unfortunately his eye was lost. Our shelter isn’t innocent in some of the pain caused to him, however. The shelter obviously placed no trust in the fact that he would make it, because his eye wasn’t properly sewn, and they left in his right tooth, which was fractured from the impact, to abscess.

I saw images of Odin (called “Winky” by the shelter) on their website, and something about him pulled me. I begged my husband, who at the time didn’t want another cat, to at least let me go and take a look at him. He was about a year old at the time and still had the stitches in his eye when he was brought out to us. The woman handed him to my husband and he laid his head against my husband’s chest.

Call it love at first sight, the next day we were taking him home. He was clearly hanging on. A strong cat, he pulled through another surgery to remove the abscessed tooth and we discovered through the vet that his blood work returned with his blood sugar through the roof, meaning that not only was he suffering from his ordeal, he was diabetic. 

My husband worried for ages that he wouldn’t make it, but I kept hoping, kept praying. I applied medicine to his eye to help it heal and kept a close watch on the spot where his tooth was. 

Now nearly a year later, he’s gained to a healthy weight, his eye has healed marvelously, and his blood sugar is still maintained through insulin shots. He’s well behaved, never once fighting me while giving him shots. He sleeps on my legs at night, and purrs nearly every time I touch him. I believe that love, more than anything, kept us going, and has allowed him to be this part of my life. 

Even after everything he’s been through, he’s still beautiful in my eyes. Some may cringe, but I look at him and see an angel. {Editor’s note: us too!}

Edit 5.10.2009: Thank you all so very much for all the sweet and heartwarming comments! I can’t possibly reply to all of them, but I greatly appreciate everything said, and I have taken time to read every single one. Odin thanks you too, I’m sure. You’ve all been so sweet and accepting; and I feel I just can not express my gratitude in words!