Annie

Anne Bonney, pirate cat

This is the story of Anne Bonny, the kitten found on a highway in Adams County, Washington, September 19, 2023.

Staff from Adams County Pet Rescue just happened to be driving by and saw this 5-week-old kitten trotting along the road. She ran right up to them. They took pictures.

They wrote: “This little kitten needed help and by perfect coincidence, was in the middle of a county road when we were driving by. We named her Anne Bonny after a fierce female pirate. Don’t read further if you have a weak stomach. Anne Bonny had such an infected eye that once the gunk was cleaned off and opened up, her eye actually fell out onto the exam table. The good news is that she’ll heal up and will adjust to having only one eye. It’s tough on these cats with upper respiratory infections and all the pain it causes. This little one is one of the lucky ones.”

Once I saw the photo of Annie trotting down the road with her tail in the air, I knew she was the cat for us! I called Adams County Pet Rescue, made a donation for her care, and went to their website to fill out an extensive adoption form.

After interviewing all my references, they said we could adopt her—but that they wanted to wait several weeks until she was up to 2 pounds and could be spayed.

Our Seattle vet, Lisa, does frequent spay-and-neuter clinics for Adams County Pet Rescue. (In fact, she’s who had re-posted their post with Annie’s photo.) She went over that weekend to do a clinic, and brought Annie back to Seattle after assuring them that she’d spay Annie here.

Fortunately, we’d already purchased a zip-up doorway screen (attached with Velcro) so a closet in my office could be set up as the kitty room. We quickly installed the screen, got a small cat tree, and installed three cat beds and a Kitty Poo litterbox. Annie took to her new home immediately and astonished us by never meowing, even during the night. Of course, the other cats wandered in and out of my office and look at her, so she knew she isn’t alone.

Her second day we put pet gates over the stairs and let her loose on the main floor, which she explored enthusiastically. She soon had favorite toys (crinkle toys and a long fleece snake). By her fourth day, she was willing to sleep in my lap.

Most of our cats ignored her, but Toby was willing to play with her. We think they get way too rough, so only allow it when we can supervise:

Lisa consulted with veterinary eye specialists, and they will be closing up Annie’s empty eye socket when she is six months old. Until then, she will be on and off antibiotics to prevent infection. We do her meds morning and night and thus far she seems just fine with oral medicine and a topical ointment.

Annie, from a long line of feral/barn cats, has the most intense prey drive imaginable. Given a rabbit-fur mouse, she can focus on that one toy for as long as 90 minutes:

November—Annie is growing rapidly; everyone thought she’d be a medium-hair or longhair cat, but it looks like she’s going to be a very sleek shorthair. In this photo, she’s 12 weeks old, about 3.5 pounds.

Annie loves to race around on our furniture, so we’ve covered the sofa and chaise, bought her some cat trees, and this pirate ship, which also doubles as a toy chest: