For the past two months, we have been greeted every day by two beautiful little balls of fluff, Noodle and Dumpling. Despite not planning on adopting any sort of animal ever, especially in China, they have become the perfect family additions!
Dumpling was found all alone in a sports shed at Kev’s school. He was a tiny little bumpkin, but full of dirt and he had fallen through the ceiling of the building. Our friend Candy found him first and took him to a local vet who estimated him to be around 3 weeks old.
The vet gave her some powdered goat’s milk, a feeding syringe and some medicine to nurse him to full strength. Candy couldn’t look after him so after a few minutes of deliberation….Kev sent me this photo and CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW I MELTED!
His little box became his new home at our house. He loved curling up in an old jumper and settling himself into his new surroundings. We decided to keep Dumpling pretty much instantly!
We discovered that ICVS, a popular vet surgery in Wangjing, was holding a talk on moving pets out of China. There’s a fair bit of organising to do but it’s definitely do-able and there’s no quarantine period for the UK.
The kitties are too young to move this summer because they haven’t had all their jabs and snips. By next year they’ll be sorted and we’ll take them home with us!
Read More: Inside Beijing’s Cutest Cat Cafe!
ICVS also informed us that Dumpling wasn’t three weeks old as he had all of his teeth. He was more likely 7 or 8 weeks! We had only been feeding the poor bugger milk on the first vet’s instructions so he wasn’t gaining weight like he should have been since we decided on adopting him.
As his check-up was being done, we wandered over to a room that held three kittens and a mum.
We’d discussed adopting another kitten once Dumpling was all jabbed up because we wanted him to learn the proper cat social skills – and there was Noodle waiting for us in that room. He was actually called Simon at the time but we swiftly changed that because…well, Simon the cat doesn’t really have a ring to it!
The mum had given birth to the two other kittens, but Noodle was found in the streets. Someone bought him in to be adopted and luckily, he was able to feed from the mum too. The other two were being advertised as a pair so that left Noods for us!
We came back the next day after completing a reference check as new adoptive parents and brought Noodle home. Dumpling had already proved himself to be a chilled out kind of dude so we were happy with that. Noodle – well, he bloody liked to moan in that taxi journey on the way back!
He wouldn’t stop crying the whole way, which is understandable but we couldn’t help thinking that we had made a mistake!
Now, Dumpling and Noodle are the perfect pets. They have developed their own personalities, and they are entirely comfortable with us. They’ll snuggle up next to our pillows at night (but this can be incredibly annoying!
When they’re tired they like to suck their paws – apparently it’s just a habit? Bloody hell though, at 3 am it’s the worst!), and we’ve even taught them to sit whilst waiting for their food and treats.
There are so many stray cats in Beijing it’s unbelievable! I’ve since joined two cat adoption groups on WeChat for advice and the number of kittens being found is just ridiculous. Next year, I want to help out a bit more and start fostering some kittens. Most adult strays do just fine – it only takes around two months for them to become fully feral so adopting a cat from the street isn’t really an option.
What would be great is a cat café for stray kittens who are up for adoption! Anyone want to donate the start-up cost and help us run it? 😉
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Have you ever adopted a stray? Do you think we made the right decision adopting Dumpling and Noodle? Let us know in the comments below!
Comments
Such cute babies!!! <3
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They’re lovely! I’m from Israel and we also have a crazy amount of cats – and kittens – on the street, which sometimes breaks my heart because I’d love to just take them all in.
I know, it’s so hard not to bring them all home! Although last week we did rescue another one and are currently fostering her too! This time it’s only short term though!
Hello! Nice blog about Beijing, very helpful. I was reading your page on costs of life in Beijing and you guys mentioned that you brought your cats to the UK. Was the process difficult? I have two cats I picked up from the street and will bring them with me to the US when I return. Just wondering how to start preparing for our trip home. Thanks for your help!
Hey! It isn’t too difficult and actually I think the US is even easier. Are you based in Beijing? We went to the vet ICVS and they basically told us what to do and when. you just have to prepare at least 6 months in advance because they need certain vaccinations + paperwork! Let me know if you have any other questions but definitely take a look at the ICVS website and pop in if you can (Mary is a native english speaker and super helpful)!
Hi did you ever get anywhere with the adoption cafe or anything. My lad is in Shanghai and constantly rescuing kittens… the most recent was stuck in a car engine for 2 days. He’s struggling to find adopters though. He has two he has kept over the years so doesnt want more. His apartment isnt big enough. It even via WeChat there’s few groups for cats adoption. Any ideas? TIA
Hey, we were only successful in getting our foster cats adopted vi wechat! I have heard Shanghai is a lot trickier to get adopters! Perhaps he could talk to a charity as a lot of places just to Trap, Neuter, Return so that the cats aren’t reproducing any more!