Three teenagers found a newborn kitten alone on the streets of California, covered in red ants. Door after door, they were denied help until someone finally said yes. Now the kitten follows his new friend everywhere.
JinxCredit: Merced SPCA
That kitten is Jinx, and he was only a few days old when he was found, his eyes barely open and his body far too small to be on his own.
The teenagers who found him had already tried everywhere they could think of in Merced and neighboring Atwater, and kept being told no. Still, they would not give up on him.
They went block by block, neighborhood by neighborhood, knocking on door after door, looking for anyone who would help. Before they set out, they had tucked him into a box, wrapped him in a soft blanket, and made sure he had a little to eat.
The day he was found, small enough to fit in one handCredit: Merced SPCA
Jinx was so small he fit in the palm of one hand, a scrap of gray fur that could have been missed by anyone not looking closely. The teenagers who found him were not willing to look away.
Most people would have kept walking past a kitten that tiny and that fragile. These three decided his life was worth knocking on every door in town.
Carried door to door in a box until someone could helpCredit: Merced SPCA
With Jinx bundled in his box, they carried him from house to house, refusing to stop until they found someone who could take him in. The knocking is what kept him going, one more door at a time.
That persistence finally paid off in a way none of them could have planned.
Safe at last, tucked into a warm blanket.Credit: Merced SPCA
By chance, they ended up at the home of Cynthia Kelly, who leads Merced SPCA, an all-volunteer, foster-based, no-kill rescue. At that very moment, the group’s secretary, Lyric Adam, was pulling into the driveway to pick up food and vaccines.
Lyric, who fosters the rescue’s bottle and neonatal babies, got out, listened to the teenagers’ story, and took Jinx into her care on the spot. She cleaned the ants from his fur, warmed him up, and looked him over before settling in for the round-the-clock care a kitten his age needs.
“I’m not even sure if they got to knock before I pulled up,” Lyric shared with LoveMeow. After all those doors, the one that finally opened came down to pure timing, the kind that only found him because three kids kept knocking.
Calm after milk meowsCredit: Merced SPCA
Jinx was very skinny, and his eyes were only just beginning to open, the first hints of blue starting to peek through. His ears were still closed, folded flat the way they are in the earliest days of life.
Little by little, the signs of a thriving kitten began to show. His eyes opened wider every day, and he found his voice, letting out tiny meows that said he was not going anywhere.
Feeding timeCredit: Merced SPCA
Lyric fed him with a Miracle Nipple, a feeding syringe made for the tiniest babies, and Jinx took to it with enthusiasm, latching on hungrily at every meal. A little stuffed animal was tucked in beside him so he would not have to feel so alone.
For a baby who started life without his mother, that soft companion made his small world feel a little less empty. And as it turned out, Jinx would not be the only little one in the house for long.
Vi, who arrived not long after JinxCredit: Merced SPCA
Not long after, another tiny face made her way to Merced SPCA. Vi was found dumped outside, tucked under a tree and trying to keep herself warm.
She got a good meal and a safe place to rest, and after a short stint of what the rescue fondly called “office desk life,” she headed to the same foster home, where a familiar little face was waiting.
From the first day, Jinx wanted to be wherever Vi wasCredit: Merced SPCA
From the moment they were under the same roof, Jinx became completely taken with his new friend. He watches everything Vi does as though she is the most interesting thing in the world, following wherever she goes and studying whatever she is up to.
Vi seems just as glad to have him there, keeping an eye on Jinx and whatever small adventure he is about to get into next.
Two little rescues, growing up as a pairCredit: Merced SPCA
Vi still has weight to gain and is working her way back on a special diet and medication, taking foster life one day at a time with Jinx right beside her.
Two kittens who each started alone, one covered in ants and one left under a tree, found their way to the same warm room and to each other. Neither of them has to face the rest of it on their own again.
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