In the animal kingdom, life can be cutthroat, and instincts can make even the most gentle of species make some pretty cruel decisions. Mother house cats, for instance, aren’t above abandoning their newborns if they’re not strong enough.
Luckily, every so often, humans can step in and give those abandoned animals life-saving care. That’s what one man, an Imgur user named Alan, did when he took in a 30-day-old kitten runt. Sure enough, he willingly played the role of mama in an attempt to give the weak kitten a chance at life.
But could Alan actually provide this poor kitten with everything she needed to grow into a happy, healthy cat? Well, the good people of the internet stepped in to make sure.
It’s inevitable that, when a mother cat gives birth, some of her newborn kitties are tiny. Like, really tiny. These little tykes are often weaker than their siblings, and as a result, they have a more difficult time receiving sufficient nourishment. Life’s not easy when you’re fighting for milk! Such was the case for this poor calico kitten who was the runt of her litter.
Making matters worse for this cute little calico was the fact that her mother had given birth to an unusually high amount of kittens to begin with. In an effort to give more attention to the babies who were stronger—and more likely to survive—the calico’s mother abandoned her. Thankfully, all hope was not lost!
An Imgur user named Alan happily welcomed the kitten into his home in August 2017. Shortly after, he posted adorable pictures of her online. The pictures and ensuing conversations he had with Imgur commenters documented his efforts to give this little calico a happy and healthy life. But was he up to the task?
Alan decided he would named the kitten Sansa. The runt’s big blue eyes reminded him of actress Sophie Turner, who played Sansa on the HBO series Game of Thrones. The eyes weren’t all this kitten and her namesake had in common, though…
As a calico, she had little patches of ginger hair that matched the actress’s auburn mane. That pretty much did it for the similarities, however. In the TV show and original books, Sansa was a princess who was decorated head to toe in all sorts of lavish garments. Feline Sansa, on the other hand, was scruffy and ragged—and certainly not royalty.
In fact, Sansa’s appearance garnered some concern in the comments on Alan’s album. “I’m pretty sure she shouldn’t have been taken from her mother yet,” expressed one commenter. “If I were you I’d take her to a vet to be sure about it.” Was Alan making a mistake in keeping this kitten?
Other users questioned poor Sansa’s state as well: “Where is the mother? Kittens need to be socialized. Whats up?” Alan explained the situation, but it didn’t take long for him to realize he was in over his head. He was not prepared to take care of a newborn kitten, let alone one so small and needy.
He admitted online that he “didn’t prepare all the things she needed.” He assumed the role as cat dad simply entailed providing her with some kibble, filling up a water dish, and dangling a string for her to play with every now and again—but, boy, was he wrong!
Thankfully, the Imgur community’s crowd-sourced knowledge helped Alan avoid any major missteps. Some online cat-lovers instructed Alan what to do, look out for, and find help if he needed it. How did Sansa feel about her new cat dad, though?
One thing was for certain: Sansa became adorably infatuated with Alan. Given that she was separated from her mother at an early age, she seemed especially eager to welcome a new parental figure into her life.
After every picture Alan took of the tiny kitten, she looked up at him with enormous, loving eyes. She liked to sandwich herself between his feet, too. Franky, it was the only way Alan could get her to keep still!
Sansa ate scrambled eggs, absorbing all the good fats and proteins her kitty stomach could handle, while Alan awaited a delivery of kitty formula. With a steady diet and some regular playtime, Sansa finally started to grow stronger and more healthy each day!
Of course, as a domesticated house cat, Sansa began to learn about the finer things in life: cardboard boxes, garbage, and random trinkets she would find around the house. Lucky for her, Alan gave her her own room, which contained plenty of boxes to play in.
As cats grow, they like to indulge in a little WWE-style wrestling—grapples, holds, suplexes, and the like. Without any brothers or sisters to serve as an opponent, Sansa’s only opponent was Alan’s hand. Hopefully, he didn’t get too scratched up!
This roughhousing made Alan once again turn to his friends online. “She [started] to bite me,” he commented on Imgur. “Need a way to stop [her] from doing that.” Seems like Sansa had finally found some strength and ferocity! But something else changed about this growing kitten, too.
Remember those big, blue eyes that inspired her name? Well, they changed to a yellow-green color! That wasn’t a rare occurrence, though; every kitten is born with blueish-colored eyes since their irises aren’t fully developed at birth. When a cat starts producing melanin, their eyes naturally change to their true colors.
Some kittens keep their bright blue eyes, but Sansa was not one of them. Luckily, as she grew, she didn’t develop any health problems. Soon enough, she had grown from a weak runt of the litter to a healthy little beauty!
Alan took his role as a a father quite seriously. When the time came, he gave Sansa her first bath, which she reacted to… poorly. Remember how she liked nibbling on Alan’s fingers when they played together? Well, you can imagine what she did to his fingers when she was trying to avoid running water!
On December 1—just a few months after he first adopted Sansa—Alan uploaded another batch of pictures to Imgur to show off how much the kitten had grown. She was a healthy, nearly four-month-old cat with a fluffy coat and a little bit of sass!
For his first effort at raising a newborn kitten, you have to admit, Alan did a fantastic job. Much of the credit belongs to some strangers on the internet, too. After a few months of intensive care, this little kitten is finally becoming as regal as her namesake implies!
Sometimes, an animal’s instincts can be cruel. Luckily, as Sansa the cat knows, there’s often a human waiting to help out abandoned animals!
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