Adoptable Dora Escaped!

I was just going out to feed when Dora the Explorer ran out the door! Just curiosity on her part, I'm sure - but once she got outside her feral instincts kicked in and she didn't want to let me anywhere near her.

After more than a day outside, I spotted her looking the other way, just over the edge of the porch, and dropped on her... well, like a cat dropping on a mouse! The funny thing is that she didn't fight at all once caught; in fact, she started purring. That's the odd thing about those feral instincts: she really loves people, she just has a natural inclination to run away. She's very happy to be caught and back indoors.

One good thing about her being outside is that you can finally see her true coloring: She is a VERY RARE lilac dilute tortoise shell. Her coloring is so rare that, in the hundreds of cats that have passed through these feral colonies over the years, there hasn't been a single other kitten with this coloration pattern. Not one. Now, in this light, you can see her true beauty.

DORA THE HARD LUCK STORY: When Dora was a feral kitten, sick and near death, she had the intelligence to seek help from humans. We brought her back to at least semi-health. Now Dora is a beautiful and loving kitten. Nevertheless, she has a persistent ear infection in her left ear that always seems to be draining. The last antibiotics I got from the vet just made her throw up. Hopefully we'll get it cleared up eventually but I still worry about her. She's extremely active and happy... but she also seems awfully skinny to me for a well-fed kitten. And we've treated her for worms. It's possible that she has some long-term cat disease that will shorten her life and about which there is nothing we can do. She is a former feral, after all.

So we just love her and hope that she finds a loving home of her own - even though her life might not be the longest or the most problem-free. We can only work with what we have. Someone needs to stand-up and give Dora a decent life, for however long she is going to be on earth.