After Samantha Smart and her family heard a tiny kitten meowing around their home in Florida, they made it their mission to help him.
“It wasn’t just a meow, it was a sad little cry,” Smart told The Dodo. “He had the whole neighborhood working together to find and trap him. We have one cat already so we weren’t really looking to add another, but it felt like Ponyo was meant for us!”
The family adopted Ponyo and did everything to help him to settle into his new life as soon as possible.
To make the transition smoother, Samantha’s daughter thought Ponyo needed a new friend. One that would be entirely his. So the kitty got his own special stuffed dragon.
Ponyo quickly fell in love with his new BFF. In fact, the kitty was having such a great time with it, Samantha even took it to vet’s to make Ponyo feel braver during surgery. And it worked.
More info: Ponyo (Facebook) | Operation Catnip (Facebook and Instagram)
“My daughter Violet spent a while picking out the perfect friend for him to sleep with and settled on Dragon,” Samantha explained. “He sleeps with Dragon every night and spends a lot of his time dragging him around the house!”
When Ponyo finally had to get neutered, his hoomans knew he might be a little nervous about going to the vet and could use some company. So they sent in his dragon to keep him company.
As soon as the kitty and his buddy came to Operation Catnip, a spay-neuter organization that works mainly with unowned, free-roaming community cats, everyone couldn’t help but notice the tiny critter hiding behind his beloved plushie.
Everyone saw that Ponyo’s toy made him feel a little safer while he was getting used to the new place and people. So, they made sure the two would stay together the entire time.
“Ponyo is a happy and healthy kitten,” Melissa Jenkins, the Operations Director for Operation Catnip, told Bored Panda. “Thanks to his mom, who found him and took him into her home, as well as our Kitten Shelter Diversion Program, Ponyo has had access to important vaccinations and spay-neuter surgery which helped to set him up for a healthy life ahead.”
The staff at Operation Catnip thought it would be really great to send the dragon on the same journey through the clinic as Ponyo, so they even gave it the same service as Ponyo.
No wonder the kitty was nervous when he arrived at the vet: at the time, his life was changing every second. But his dragon did everything you’d expect from your BFF — it stayed by the his side, reassuring it that everything will be just fine. And it was!
Image credits: Operation Catnip
Jenkins said the Kitten Shelter Diversion Program is a partnership between Operation Catnip and the community to keep vulnerable kittens out of crowded shelters and help them start new lives as loving family pets. “When members of the public find kittens outdoors, we encourage them to foster the kittens in their home rather than take them to shelters or rescues, which are already very full, especially at this time of year, and which don’t always have the capacity to help with the surge of kittens,” Jenkins explained.
“Operation Catnip provides support by way of supplies and veterinary care for the kittens, and once they ‘graduate’ from the program (have their spay-neuter surgery), we ask that those caregivers then take on the responsibility of finding them homes!”
The organization even gives them a list of online rehoming resources to post and share their kittens, or they simply use their own social networks to find homes. “In addition, we ask that the caregivers are very thorough about getting the whole family fixed — we want them to bring us the mother cat for sterilization too, as well as any other unaltered cats from the area where the kittens were found,” Jenkins explained.
“We can even loan out humane live traps to them to catch any cats that are too feral to pick up by hand. It’s critical to ending the cycle of reproduction for that group and making sure no more kittens are born to them next year! Ponyo was found outdoors in the neighborhood, and his mom, Samantha, searched for a mother cat and siblings for several days, but never located any others. Ponyo ended up working his magic and they decided to keep him themselves, using the Kitten Shelter Diversion Program to start his new life on the right foot!”
People absolutely adored Ponyo and his favorite toy
We had a cat named Lucy who had a stuffed duck cat toy we named Duckster that was her lifelong favorite. She picked Duckster out when she was a tiny kitten and the toy was half again as big as she was. Duckster was washed and repaired numerous times in his and Lucy’s life together. 12 years later Lucy was diagnosed with cancer, and Duckster never left her side. In fact, he was buried nestled in her arms when she passed.
Ponyo and his little dragon friend are adorable! I'm glad that Ponyo found a forever home.
This is so so sweet. Those vets were awesome to that cute little kitten and I hope Ponyo will be happy in his forever home with this loving family.
Glad the dragon got neutered as well. There are too many feral dragons in the wild already!
Awww he looks exactly my cat Leo, we found him lost on the street near our home and took him in 4 years ago
I'm happy that Pongo has a BFF and great parents. Thank you for loving him.
Growing up, we always fostered cats for a local shelter. One cat fell in love with a small stuffed yellow ball with a face on it. Whenever he batted it under something and could't reach it, he'd meow and meow until someone retrieved it. So, we called it Myellow. When his forever humans came to pick him up, we made sure it went with him and we made them promise they'd always retrieve it for him.
What the heck is f-----g wrong with you cjay smurphite???? It is better when animals die of hunger and diseases? Their lives are much improved and easier when not burdened by a constant breeding cycle.
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When we picked up our cat from the breeder, she included a small stuffed toy to take with us. She explained that it was important for the new kitten to be accompanied by familiar smells when getting separated by traveling to an unfamiliar and probably scary place. It has a very calming effect.
For God's sake they breed cats too?? Actually for cats' sake; please do not buy pets, adopt them from a shelter and save their lives. Put breeders out of heartless, greedy business. Is it so difficult to understand? I don't get it.
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Someone should do a cartoon version of the Adventures of Ponyo and Dragon.
thank you, cjay smurphite, for being such a F**king a**hole.
cjay smurphite, I hope that a fire will burn down your house as well as all your stuff and all your things. Animals should be respected and cared.
Load More Replies...
Samantha 's daughter had such a sweet and wise idea. Ponyo is a lucky kitty to have a loving family and a dragon as a best friend.
Pinto is also a anime movie about a fish that turns into a young girl child.
We had a cat named Lucy who had a stuffed duck cat toy we named Duckster that was her lifelong favorite. She picked Duckster out when she was a tiny kitten and the toy was half again as big as she was. Duckster was washed and repaired numerous times in his and Lucy’s life together. 12 years later Lucy was diagnosed with cancer, and Duckster never left her side. In fact, he was buried nestled in her arms when she passed.
Ponyo and his little dragon friend are adorable! I'm glad that Ponyo found a forever home.
This is so so sweet. Those vets were awesome to that cute little kitten and I hope Ponyo will be happy in his forever home with this loving family.
Glad the dragon got neutered as well. There are too many feral dragons in the wild already!
Awww he looks exactly my cat Leo, we found him lost on the street near our home and took him in 4 years ago
I'm happy that Pongo has a BFF and great parents. Thank you for loving him.
Growing up, we always fostered cats for a local shelter. One cat fell in love with a small stuffed yellow ball with a face on it. Whenever he batted it under something and could't reach it, he'd meow and meow until someone retrieved it. So, we called it Myellow. When his forever humans came to pick him up, we made sure it went with him and we made them promise they'd always retrieve it for him.
What the heck is f-----g wrong with you cjay smurphite???? It is better when animals die of hunger and diseases? Their lives are much improved and easier when not burdened by a constant breeding cycle.
Load More Replies... When we picked up our cat from the breeder, she included a small stuffed toy to take with us. She explained that it was important for the new kitten to be accompanied by familiar smells when getting separated by traveling to an unfamiliar and probably scary place. It has a very calming effect.
For God's sake they breed cats too?? Actually for cats' sake; please do not buy pets, adopt them from a shelter and save their lives. Put breeders out of heartless, greedy business. Is it so difficult to understand? I don't get it.
Load More Replies... Someone should do a cartoon version of the Adventures of Ponyo and Dragon.
thank you, cjay smurphite, for being such a F**king a**hole.
cjay smurphite, I hope that a fire will burn down your house as well as all your stuff and all your things. Animals should be respected and cared.
Load More Replies... Samantha 's daughter had such a sweet and wise idea. Ponyo is a lucky kitty to have a loving family and a dragon as a best friend.
Pinto is also a anime movie about a fish that turns into a young girl child.
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