Ben is a 1-year-old White Cat, Orange Hat in Ashland, MA, who needs $2,000 for Pelvic Surgery and Catheter Care.

In August 2020, on the small Caribbean island of St Thomas, I found an adorable 4-week-old kitten dumped on the side of the road. My husband and I loved him immediately, and began to raise our little island boy. For the last 9 months he grew up playing with the neighborhood cats in banana fields, chasing geckos, and climbing jungle trees.

Ben wanted to be an outdoor cat from the very beginning - climbing screens, refusing his litterbox, and escaping anytime the door opened. Once he was old enough, he got his very own cat door to come and go as he pleased. He found his ideal litterbox to be his dad's garden. My husband once 'harvested' a big piece of ginger, only to find out it was cat poop!!!

Ben has come so far in such a short time! In the last 3 weeks he has had surgeries, helping him regained function of his back legs, tail, and cat-butt. His bill is over 21K, and we need all the help we can get!

In April 2021, Ben was hit by a car and paralyzed. He crawled his way back to our bedroom window & called out for help. We rushed him to the vet, who after X-rays and observation, realized their best option was euthanasia. We felt Ben had more life to live, so our vet helped us find a specialist in NY that would take him. We jumped on a plane and brought him to Guardian under the care of Dr. Runge

Ben has had a BIG appetite since the day we met him, eating with such vigor that we questioned how he could breathe. His hunger has not subsided with age, inspiring a cat themed remix to "Hungry Eyes" by Eric Carmen. My boy has also decided he was grown enough for his own apartment, moving into an old car in the driveway. This ensured he was always waiting for us when we pulled in after work!