One lonely little kitten found wandering the streets has grown up to be the purrfect role model for foster kittens.
Meet Pokey, or PokeyPotPie, as his furever parents call him.
Photos: Courtesy PokeyPotPie
This handsome chap did not have an easy start in life.
He was found in the summer of 2012, along side a sibling that had sadly passed away, and no mother anywhere. The Animal Rescue League of Boston took the little 3-week-old kitten into their shelter and began working on placing him with one of their foster families.
When fosterers Jen and Ian saw the dirty, underweight and hungry kitten, Jen rushed to the shelter to retrieve him. Baby Pokey was covered in fleas, had worms and was suffering from an upper respiratory infection. He was their 10th foster kitten and little did they know, he would change their lives forever.
Photos: Courtesy PokeyPotPie – Baby Pokey
Pokey quickly became attached to his new mom Jen and would cry…endlessly…if he wasn’t in her arms. So Jen came up with a plan. She swaddled him in a sling and carried the less than 1 pound kitten around the house with her. For weeks! This created a bond between the two that no one could deny.
Photos: Courtesy PokeyPotPie – In mama’s sling
As the days went by, Pokey easily crept his way into their hearts. They had already “foster failed” with their cat Dora, and knew Pokey would be their second.
These days Jen laughingly exclaims, “We now “own” 5 cats, all foster fails. We’ve only kept 5 out of 100 though, so….not too bad!”.
Photos: Courtesy PokeyPotPie – The Purrmanents: (L to R) Dora, Hagrid, Boop, Bop and Pokey
The growing family began fostering kittens again about 2 years later, after Pokey had settled in to his happy new life. They weren’t sure how he would react to the temporary felines, but he surprised them all when he immediately jumped in and wanted to help them foster!
Photos: Courtesy PokeyPotPie – What is he up to?! <3
He will do all the things kittens need from the purrfect big brother.
Pokey is quick to clean and groom them, play with them and is sure to step in when they get too rough with each other. And the kittens just adore him. They happily use him to practice their climbing and chasing skills, and then all snuggle in for a well deserved cat-nap afterwards.
Photos: Courtesy PokeyPotPie – Training Days
However, there is one thing that leaves Pokey absolutely resentful about regarding the fosters in the home.
When fosters are first brought into a home, they need to be quarantine until they are given clean bills of health.
Pokey cannot STAND not being able to love on his new charges!
He even took it upon himself to learn how to open the door to get to the babies that need him. Jen and Ian have had to pile clothes, boxes and anything they could find to stop him from gaining entry to the “danger zone.” Pokey loudly disagrees with their methods.
But once they are all together, Pokey is in heaven!
The family has fostered almost 100 cat/kittens to date and started calling it the “Pokeypotpie’s Playschool for Wayward Kittens”. With over 43,500 followers on Instagram and a new Facebook page, everyone can now follow Pokey and his kittens as they graduate to their furever families.
Photos: Courtesy PokeyPotPie – Snuggle time for all!
Possibly due to his past, he seems to specialize in singletons, or single kittens. These solo furbabies need extra love and attention to really learn the socializing skills that large litters of kittens have throughout their developmental stages.
He is not only a wonderful “meowntor” to the kittens learning how to “cat”, he is also an amazing foster-brother to many adult cats too. One of his closest buddies is Bop, the blind cat whom the family fell for during his supposedly temporary stay. Seems there is plenty of room for everyone in Pokey’s over-sized heart! <3
Photos: Courtesy PokeyPotPie – Pokey and Bop the blind kitty
All of their fosters now come from Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation in Virginia, where Jen also volunteers as a cat foster coordinator. We know full well that cat rescue isn’t a hobby…it’s a lifestyle!
So when Pokey is not tending to tiny kittens, what does he like to do? Well, apparently he loves to eat spinach, play “goalie” and fetch, follow mom around, cause trouble, and chase his siblings; just like any other cat.
Photos: Courtesy PokeyPotPie – Playtime Fun!
But don’t be mistaken, Pokey loves his crazy cat guy foster dad too. <3
Photos: Courtesy PokeyPotPie – Pokey and Ian
Pokey doesn’t allow them to have an empty house for too long though. He becomes very clingy towards Jen and vocal; pleading for them to bring him his next “babies”. We can’t wait to see the adorable success stories and love shared from this special boy and his amazing family – human and 4-legged.
Please follow PokeyPotPie on his social media pages for all the cuteness you can pawssibly handle! Adopt Don’t Shop and Spay/Neuter your pets!
I so much enjoyed this post. Full disclosure, Jen is my daughter, and I am very proud of her and Ian and I consider her cats my grandcats and treat them as such. Of course they have the smartest as best behaved cats in the world.
Oh YAY!!! Please give them giant “thank you – you’re awesome” hugs from us and head bumps to all the beautiful felines in the house =) Congratulations on all the grandkitties <3
This story is what I needed after a long, tiring day ♥
What an awesome family and awesome good twists to many feral stories – Pokeypotpie’s Playschool for Wayward Kittens is quite a good piece of heaven on earth ♥
Je parle français. Uniquement. J’aimerai adopté un chaton.
Please visit your local shelter to find the purrfect cat for you =)
What a lovely story! Poky is a hero! It’s so nice to hear about animals finding loving homes, and cats are especially close to my heart. I love them all! I had a cat that looked like Poky, many years ago, handsome boy he is!
I had a cat that looked a lot like Poky, too, and was a real lover like Poky. Love seeing his arm around his buddies.