Nine's Catudio™
Online Feline Boutique and Design Studio
Nine's Catudio™ is a registered trademark
our unique products help feed rescued animals
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I spent the whole day of September 10, 2017, preparing my garden for the winter. The early snowfall was forecasted, and according to the Farmer's Almanac, a cold and snowy winter was to settle in very early. It's not unusual for Alberta, where we live.
We lived in the south, where evenings get dark very early. I was getting exhausted and was wrapping it up for the day. I was about to enter the house when I realized I hadn't locked the garage.
On my way back, I heard a desperate air-piercing meow coming from the road. I could not see the cat as the street light hid behind the large tree in the front yard.
In the sweetest voice, I started calling into the dark, "Come here, baby, come here, little one." I have always been an avid cat lover and spent much time with them. One of the things I learned is that the cats react to the tone of the human voice. For some reason, I assumed the meow belonged to a kitten, although it was profound.
Miracle Stray Kitten
September 2017
The next moment, I saw a tiny furball beside my foot. It all happened so quickly that I screamed, and the kitten jumped. But he was so exhausted he almost immediately laid down and started to cry, not as loud as before. I grabbed the towel off the clothesline and picked him up.
I had to be very careful, as I already had two male cats, Sky and Junior. They were strictly indoor cats, and any disease could be a severe problem.
The kitten got quiet and was looking at me with his huge eyes. He was starving. His third eye already showed up - a distinct sign of illness, dehydration, and starvation.
Hiding the kitten in my jacket, I ran into the house. The baby cat was barely meowing by then. I grabbed a can of cat food and a dish and filled it with water.
I set them down on the deck and let the kitten out of the towel. The minute I put the contents of the can into a little tray, they were gone. I went back inside and got another package with cat food. It did not last much longer. Then the kitten drank and drank and drank water. I refilled the dish at least three times before he stopped.
First Meal
I wrapped him up in the towel again and sat on the deck, rocking him like a baby. He started to purr very loudly, and soon, he was asleep. I was afraid to move, and I was studying my precious find.
He had incredible colours, and his little mane was so cute. I was unsure what to do since I was afraid my husband would not allow me to have a third cat in the house. But there was no way I was leaving this baby without trying to help him.
I named him Nine, as he showed up at 9 pm. Since I rescued and successfully rehomed other cats before (in fact, one just two weeks before Nine showed up), I knew what to do.
I already had a small YouTube channel, which I did not take seriously, and mainly used to post short cat videos - whenever I had to rehome one. So, the first thing I did was to start making a video of the kitten, as I thought I would have to rehome him once nursed to health. But the more time we spent together, the more I got attached to him.
Here is a very clumsy first video of Nine I made using the footage from that night. After a long nap, he woke up and started playing. I knew he would make it then.
The next day, I told my husband, who was on a business trip, that a miracle had happened. The prettiest, cutest kitten found us in the middle of nowhere, in that tiny hamlet we lived in at the time. I sent him some pictures. I was very nervous to know what he would say.
Back came the text: "Baby, he is precious. We should keep him". And that's how Nine became part of our family.
On the way to work that day, I noticed a tiny body on a highway. The dead kitten looked just like Nine. I stopped to move the little corpse away. The way she was lying, I saw it was a girl cat. Nine had a sister, but more. In the ditch where I was going to put the kitten, I noticed a large cat (I'm not sure if it was their Mom or Dad. Judging by the size, it was probably a male).
The picture started to appear in front of my eyes. The cats were thrown out on the highway. One made it. Little Nine ran 3 kilometres towards our village. No wonder he was so exhausted.
One of the first comments under the video I published was from a lady who owned the prized Norwegian Forest Cat. She suggested that Nine came from the same litter as her cat. She also said that a breeder could have thrown the cats out since we lived so close to the Montana border. She told me she had a second Weegie, who looked just like Nine but with tiny defects that only a breeder would know.
My little kitten became ever so precious to me as I shed a tear over his rough kittenhood story. Up to this day, he is terrified of strangers in our house but adopted my husband and me right away.
His full name is Nile Little Man Monarch Wonder Boots, which translates to Norwegian as Ni Lille Mann Monark Undre Stovier. We had a blast coming up with a name worth a show cat. Nine was so precious to us. My husband added Little Man, as Nine was following him around everywhere. Wonder boots, we said, because he had those cutest white boots on all of his paws, and they brought him to us in the middle of nowhere. Monarch was the name of the village where we lived.
Time passed, and Nine healed and got a very clean bill of health from the vet. He was so gorgeous that I could not stop taking pictures and videos of him. The more videos I posted, the more cat fans flocked to the channel. That's when I decided to learn how to make better videos.
I renamed the channel into Nine's Catudio and branded it across all social media. Catudio stands for Cat Studio, and I named it after Nine because he was my greatest inspiration.
I invested in essential equipment and learned to hold the phone horizontally when shooting the footage. I am still learning.
When a local shelter saw my videos, they asked me to make a couple to help them with cat adoptions. That was a great start and a huge praise for my efforts.
I have completed several charity projects with other cat video enthusiasts and discovered a beautiful community on YouTube. Together, we save stray cats.
Through donations, sales of merchandise that I design, and ads running on this website and YT channel, I can fulfill my retirement dream of building a no-kill resort for unwanted cats. I hope to get there one day. Time is running out.
In the meantime, I remain a loud advocate for stray cats and cats left behind in the shelters. Humans must be a little more thankful to felines. After all, they saved the world from Plague.
I appreciate your support!