Leave Only Paw Prints: Youngest Motor-homing Member.

Meet Awah!

On Christmas Eve, we welcomed a little rescue kitten into our family. He and his litter mates had been abandoned at 3 weeks old. Luckily they were discovered ... wet, cold and hungry, and handed in to the SPCA. They were then fostered for 2 weeks and syringe fed until they were able to lap milk on their own. Once able to drink, they were returned to the SPCA. Then at just 5 weeks old, our soon-to-be kitten was neutered, vaccinated, de-fleaed and wormed. Quite an ordeal for one so young.

And that's when we came into the picture. On Christmas Eve, I rang the SPCA hoping there might be a kitten we could adopt. They had one little grey and white male who had been adopted the day before but returned the following morning as he was 'too needy'. As soon as I saw him, it was love at first sight. He was purring up a storm and desperate to be cuddled. His outgoing nature seemed a perfect fit for a future life with two dogs.

Perhaps you're wondering, how we got the name Awah? Our 18 month old granddaughter (Mikah) calls any cat she sees an Awah. I googled the meaning and found Awah is of African origin and means abundant blessings, a life full of abundance. The perfect name for this wee boy.

For the first few days after arriving home, Awah struggled to lap milk, he was so tiny and weak. We fed him every 2 to 3 hours throughout the day and night. I slept on the couch for the first few nights so I could tend to him without waking Bernie. And as each day passed he grew stronger - now he has a healthy appetite and eats his food with gusto.

We introduced Awah slowly to the dogs. As expected Oakly shook from head to toe(paws) and Boo wanted to lick him all over. We watched them carefully and gave the kitten lots of breaks away from the dogs. Within a day Oakly and Boo's excitement had settled down and they happily accepted their new family member. Awah on the other hand was not in the least bit fazed by the dogs. He loves them.

Awah imitates everything the dogs do. He sleeps with them, waits at the door for Bernie to get home beside the dogs, plays tag outside, chases the ball and even eats with them. He's the stereotypical Copycat!