Home > Out of the Cage! > December 2004 > Success Story: Smoke and Sizzle: One of the Hottest Collaborative Rescues Ever!

Success Story

Smoke and Sizzle: One of the Hottest Collaborative Rescues Ever!

Firemen John Weber and Billy Pence of Ladder 136 — the Elmhurst Eagles — made an unusual discovery when they responded to a brush fire at the BQE and Queens Boulevard one early spring morning. After hosing down the area and preparing to return to the firehouse, they suddenly heard high-pitched meowing. Upon close inspection of the two-foot-tall roadside brush, they discovered two wet, cold, crying kittens. One of the firemen slipped them into his pocket, and off they went with their lifesavers to the firehouse.

Shortly after the kittens arrived at the firehouse, Joey Loftus of Ladder 138 (detailed over to Ladder 136 for the day), called his aunt, Toni Roman, of the Pet Adoption League, for advice on what to do with the hungry kittens. Toni agreed to take them in, so Lt. Kerley drove the kittens to Toni's home.

Noticing several small burns on the tiny fur-balls, Toni took them to her vet, who estimated their ages to be three weeks. After treating the burns, he turned the kittens over to a client in his waiting room (who happened to be associated with CSM Strays) with the hope that her lactating cat would become a surrogate mom for the infant pair. When that possibility didn't materialize, CSM Strays contacted the Mayor's Alliance requesting a foster home with a lactating cat.

Janell Granier, a volunteer with Bullmastiff Rescue, who happened to have a lactating cat with five kittens already in her care, responded to the Alliance's call for a foster home. Toni delivered the pair to Janell's Manhattan apartment, where the lactating mom and her five kittens were residing in the bathroom. Janell lined the tub with blankets, transforming it into a nursery for the new arrivals and providing the mom cat with free access to the new kittens. When the mom cat didn't respond to the hungry kittens' cries for attention, Janell began feeding them KMR.

After a week-and-a-half, the "new girls" were eating canned food and their burns were well on their way to healing. One kitten was grey and white, and was dubbed Smoke. Her chest burn healed completely, and new hair grew in. Her toe also lost its scab, but remained hairless.

The other kitten was named Sizzle, partly in reference to the fire, but primarily because of her extroverted personality! Sizzle's tail took a little longer to heal, but finally it did…bent at the end and hairless. However, the remaining hair on her tail is long enough to cover the small bald spot. Smoke and Sizzle were vaccinated, and by the time they were 13 weeks old, they were ready to go to a permanent home. Janell asked a Mayor's Alliance volunteer who works at Morgan Stanley to post the kittens on Morgan Stanley's internal web site.

Anne Samachson, a marketing director for Morgan Stanley, spotted Smoke and Sizzle on the web site, and made arrangements to meet them. As was her way with everyone, Smoke was very affectionate with Anne. Sizzle, however, whose aloof, independent manner was expected to create a more challenging first impression, surprised everyone when she quickly warmed to Anne and sprawled out on her back and accepted belly rubs. Anne was hooked, so the Pet Adoption League made arrangements for her to adopt the pair in early June.

Anne reports that today, Smoke and Sizzle have settled into their 19th-floor apartment in an historic building in Brooklyn Heights. They love to perch on the wide, wooden windowsills and enjoy views of the birds above and the construction workers below. The cats (no longer kittens) were recently spayed and are still waiting for the hair to grow back over their shaved bellies. They have several good friends in the building, a cat tree, a scratching pad, and far too many toys. Despite all the store-bought items in their apartment, their favorite toy is pantyhose — they are experts at catching and killing stockings of all kinds — second only to the tissues they fish out of the wastebasket.

Smoke is the alpha cat and the instigator of mischief. She is curious, very sociable and affectionate — a true lap-cat. She climbs everything (including people), and her favorite perch is atop an old oak file cabinet. She is also jealous of any attention paid to her sister — try to pet Sizzle and Smoke will be on the spot, rolling around, and demanding attention. She isn't allowed any human food but has been known to scarf down raw cauliflower when it is accidentally left on the kitchen counter.

Sizzle is a great hunter. Her most notable feat was leaping into mid-air, catching a fly, and swallowing it. Although a bit of a scaredy-cat, she is becoming more comfortable with strangers. She still doesn't like to be held, but she tolerates it, and no longer runs away from new people. Sizzle is discretely affectionate — late at night, when everything is still, she hops into bed, purring and kneading and cuddling with her little stub of a tail curled around her. Like Smoke, Sizzle doesn't eat human food, but once was caught in the act of devouring a lovely bouquet of roses.

Smoke and Sizzle have a comfortable, cozy home but they also do a bit of traveling. Each has her own carrier, and while they don't enjoy the subways, they are quite comfortable traveling by train or car. This past Thanksgiving they accompanied Anne to Pennsylvania, where they were guests at an assisted living facility, catching up with family members, making new friends, and getting lots of love and attention.

After all the challenges these courageous sisters faced, and thanks to an amazing team of caring rescuers and a devoted adoptive mom, Smoke and Sizzle appear to have a glowing future ahead of them.