A long-haired grey kitten was found all alone outside when he was barely a month old, and a year later, he has grown into a cat who can go from lap-melting cuddles to full-speed chaos in the space of a single minute.
GreysonCredit: Pet Haven Minnesota
This week, Greyson had a birthday. He turned one year old on September 22, a milestone that once looked a long way off.
He arrived at Pet Haven Minnesota last October as a tiny orphan, found outside on his own with no mother or littermates nearby. He was small enough to need round-the-clock bottle feeding, and a foster volunteer named Kris stepped in to give him exactly what was required.
That was nearly a year ago. Greyson has spent every day since in foster care, now with a foster named Jada, and he is still looking for the family who gets to keep him.
Greyson as the palm-sized bottle baby LoveMeow first metCredit: Pet Haven Minnesota
When LoveMeow first shared his story, Greyson was a palm-sized bundle of gray fluff with a very big voice. He cried loudly for his meals and made his opinions known long before he could walk in a straight line.
Feeding him was not straightforward. He could only take small amounts at a time and did better sitting upright, so Kris fed him often and carefully, one small meal after another, until the weight began to come.
Barely bigger than the hand that fed him, and already all fluffCredit: Pet Haven Minnesota
He was a fighter from the beginning. Greyson met every hurdle in front of him and kept growing fluffier and stronger, purring through all of it as though the hard parts belonged to someone else.
Early on, his fosters learned he had been born with a condition called congenital megacolon. A veterinary technician foster named Abby led the effort to manage it, and after a series of medication and diet trials, they found the routine that keeps him well.
Growing up in foster care, one scratcher box at a timeCredit: Pet Haven Minnesota
Today that routine is a small, easy part of his day, and the rescue is proud of how well he does with it. "He takes everything like a champ; it's very easy, and his personality outweighs any medical needs," Eleanor, the marketing coordinator at Pet Haven Minnesota, told LoveMeow.
His condition, in other words, is close to the least interesting thing about him. Kris, the volunteer who bottle-raised him, sums Greyson up as "an energetic mix of playful yet cuddly," and that blend is the first thing most people notice.
Greyson at the wheel of his cardboard getaway truckCredit: Pet Haven Minnesota
Eleanor puts it another way, describing him as "a little Jekyll and Hyde, which is amazing." One version of Greyson is pure motion, a gray streak who dives through tunnels and treats a cardboard truck like a getaway car.
He carries the full engine of a one-year-old cat and sees no reason to hide it. Toys go flying, tunnels get conquered, and anyone willing to join the game becomes his favorite person for the afternoon.
The tornado winding down, whiskers and allCredit: Pet Haven Minnesota
Then, with very little warning, the other Greyson arrives. The switch tends to flip first thing in the morning, or the moment he spots someone he loves.
The cat who was a gray streak a minute ago melts into the nearest lap. "He runs to you. He's purring. He wants a million headbutts, a million pets," Eleanor said.
Settled into a favorite spotCredit: Pet Haven Minnesota
That purr is his signature. Kris credits Greyson with "an excellent (and loud) purr motor that runs non-stop," and he leans into every scratch like he has been saving it up all day.
In Jada's home now, he is in no hurry about any of it. "If he can sit on your lap, he will just roll around for 10 minutes straight," Eleanor said. Greyson does not do much halfway, and affection is no exception.
A full year older, surveying the room he has grown up inCredit: Pet Haven Minnesota
For all that charm, a full year has gone by, and Greyson is still in foster care. Greyson has grown up, filled out, learned the house, and met every visitor with the same open heart, but the right person hasn't walked in yet.
Pet Haven continues to advocate for the greatest care for him. Greyson, for his part, looks entirely ready, as certain of a warm welcome as he has ever been.
AdorableCredit: Pet Haven Minnesota
A year ago, Greyson was a hand-fed orphan who fit in one palm and was not promised an easy road. Today he is a healthy, handsome, one-year-old cat with two personalities and a lifetime of headbutts saved up for whoever finally gets to keep him.
Turning one means something different for a kitten who started as small as Greyson did.
Happy Birthday Greyson! Credit: Jada Kitten Foster
Share this story with your friends. View more on Greyson and Pet Haven Minnesota on Instagram @pethavenmn and Facebook or pethavenmn.org. Follow along with his current foster, Jada, at @jadakittenfoster, and see where his journey began with Kris at @campwobblycat and Abby at @abbysfostercatchaos.
Original Story: Tiny Kitten Found Outside Never Gives Up, with People Helping Him Thrive and Other Cats Showing Him the Way
