A rescued feral kitten was cowering in the corner of her kennel, but shelter staff and volunteers refused to let that be her fate.
A few weeks ago, a frightened feral kitten was brought in to Kitten Rescue Los Angeles for a chance at a better life. She was a pint-sized kitty at just 2 1/2 pounds, which is the average weight of a 10-week old.
"We got her from a municipal shelter. She was hiding in the back of her cage with her ears flattened and hissing at people," Kitten Rescue told Love Meow.
"Her prospects of being adopted by a member of the public weren't good at all, and that made her a candidate for euthanasia."
Kitten Rescue immediately offered to take her, get her acclimated to people and help find her a good home; otherwise, they would happily provide her life-long care at their no-kill sanctuary.
"After taking her to our kitten nursery and examining her, we saw that her adult teeth were already in - making her around three months older than we expected. In kitten socializing terms, that is a lot of lost time to try and make up."
The socialization process would take longer, and everyone at the rescue was up for the challenge. They named her Regina and made it their mission to turn her life around.
Staff and volunteers took turns to spend time with Regina. At the beginning, she buried her face behind her box and kept her ears flat like an airplane as if she wanted to be invisible. She would hiss out of fear if someone approached her and then recoil back to being hidden.
The kitty had never known love and was starved of it, but that was about to change. (Scroll down for video)
Caretakers took ample time with her and showed her that they meant no harm. With help from a comb, the kitten started to enjoy getting petted and her back scratched. Within a week, they were able to start brushing her. She even began to tolerate being held.
The little tabby was given plenty of one-on-one interaction each day. "Carrying her around in the body sling proved to be very helpful, and combing and brushing have all helped teach her that human hands aren't necessarily bad," Kitten Rescue told Love Meow.
"When we first started letting her loose in our Nursery, staff and volunteers would kneel down and interact with her on her level so she was not feeling threatened."
It took another three weeks before she let out her first purr.
When Regina started rumbling with little contented purrs, everyone at the rescue was overjoyed. "We just discovered the secret to getting her flopping around and purring: having her butt scratched."
Watch Regina's transformation in this video:
They introduced her to other very people-friendly cats so she could feel comfortable while interacting with humans. One of the feline residents, Simba, took her under his wing, showed her the ropes and taught her that humans were there to provide love and food.
"She has an indomitable personality and loves wrestling with her kitty buddy, Simba, who is larger and more confident than her but plays the submissive role when they wrestle, which is very sweet."
"Animal rescue is often full of surprises - you never really know exactly what you are getting when you take in a new animal," the rescue said. "Regina has come a long way in the time we have had her and is a staff and volunteer favorite."
With the progress she's made in the short time, they are very hopeful about Regina's transformation from a scared feral kitten in a city shelter to a loving animal companion in a forever home.
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