Kaya is a 5-month-old kitten with a congenital facial abnormality, which is almost certainly the reason why adopters have passed her over.
Now To Rescue, the shelter in California that’s been taking care of Kaya, has turned to the internet for help.
“She has been through a lot in her short life but that hasn’t stopped her from being super affectionate and playful,” the group’s Facebook page says. “She gets along great with her foster families other cats and dogs. She is so deserving of a wonderful forever home. Kaya has received zero applications, we are hoping that her story will continue to be shared so she can find her forever home.”
Kaya recently had surgery to “relieve her discomfort in her eyes,” but the shelter’s staff say it’s a “one time procedure” and she won’t require any more surgery or special care beyond routine veterinary needs. She’s already spayed, vaccinated, dewormed and chipped, and now she’s living with a foster family, where she gets along with the resident cats and dogs.
To Rescue is located in Montclair, about 35 miles east of Los Angeles. If any of our California readers are interested in Kaya, or know someone looking to adopt a kitten, you can download an adoption application on To Rescue’s site.
Not that this should be the reason anyone adopts Kaya, but given how popular unusual cats are on Instagram and TikTok, an adopter with a solid eye for photos and videos could probably turn her into a social media star. I wouldn’t be surprised if little Kaya has her own considerable fan club before long.
Pain In The Bud 
Here’s hoping Kaya finds a wonderful home!
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Poor baby. I hope she finds her forever home soon. xo
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She is a very beautiful kitty to me. I hope she finds a good forever home with someone who will love her, and not exploit her. I am not sure how I feel about social media stardom unless it is to promote these animals with deformities are both lovable and make good companions, and certainly deserve and need good homes as much as any other kitty.
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Yeah it’s a bit iffy, especially when people start dressing animals up, posing them like dolls and making them do other unnatural things for the sake of clicks and attention. That’s one reason why I wasn’t happy with what I saw on Instagram, where many thousands of people are hustling, trying to turn their pets into “influencers.” But I think there’s value in what you said, which is showing people “deformed” animals are great pets. Thinking there’s something wrong with them is a very human specific thing, and the animals themselves don’t act any different.
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Birth defects can range from inconsequential (kinked tail) to life is not possible under any circumstances, some examples I know of from vets and farmers – calf born with no rectum, lamb with no stomach, lamb with no face. In the case of the lamb with no face, the mother sheep rejected it right after birth and left it to die. Where ability to live, and not be in chronic pain or discomfort, is not in question, those animals are just like any other, and make wonderful pets. Beauty is more than skin deep.
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There is a very popular kitty on Facebook named Monty who has the same congenital defect. He is very loved. Perhaps his people could share her. Montclair isn’t so far from me, I grew up about two miles from there. I’m checking with my friends. Maybe we can get her a forever home.
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Any updates on this girl?
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She had her surgery and might have a follow up to make sure she’s good. I haven’t seen anything about adoptions applications, but I imagine they must have received them because the story kept spreading over the last few days.
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Thanks for the info, Big Buddy! Hopefully this lovely kitten will find her forever home soon, she deserves it.
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I SEARCH FOR KAYA NEWS EVERYDAY TO SEE IF THERE ANY ADOPTION PAPERS FILED. I KNOW I AM IN NY BUT PLEASE KEEP ME IN MIND. I WOULD TREASURE THE PRECIOUS LITTLE KAYA. I WOULD BE IN CALI. IN A FEW MONTHS. YOU HAVE MY INFO. PLEASE SAVE HER FOR ME IF NO ONE ELSE COMES FORWARD. I THINK WE ARE FATED TO BE TOGETHER. THANK YOU.
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Hey Robin: The best thing to do is to contact the shelter directly. I’m a blogger and I’m not affiliated with the shelter, but there are links in the story to the shelter’s site. You can send in an adoption application via the site. Good luck.
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PLEASE REMOVE MY FULL NAME. THANK YOU
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