This past January, Brian Owen was walking past a marina in Detroit, Michigan, when he heard tiny cries coming from a dock. As he looked around for the source of the noise, he found a tiny kitten curled up on a metal beam hovering above the water.
Owen tried to coax the cat back to safety, but quickly realized that she was stuck. It was a frigid day — the water was covered in ice, and everything was coated in frost. The kitten’s paws had gotten so cold that they’d fused to the metal.
“She’s frozen stuck,” Owen said in a video for The Dodo.
Owen used a towel soaked in warm water to gently melt the ice around the kitten’s paws. Once she was freed, he wrapped her in his coat and warmed her up with his body heat.
Even though Owen is allergic to cats,
he knew he had to take the tiny, frozen kitten home with him. He decided to name her Chilly, an apt name for a cat rescued on a cold day.
Chilly’s paws were raw after being stuck on the ice for so long. Owen took her to several vet appointments, where her doctors carefully treated her wounds. After about a month, she was feeling good as new.
As Owen got to know Chilly, he was delighted to find that she was super energetic and affectionate. He learned that she loved playing with toys and curling up on cat trees. She even befriended Owen’s two golden retrievers.
“Since rescuing Chilly, she’s become a family member,” Owen said.
After rescuing Chilly, Owen was inspired to continue helping cats in his neighborhood. He now regularly brings stray kittens to local rescues to help them get adopted and does trap-neuter-release for cats in established colonies. He sets out food for stray kitties and even sets up shelters to help them survive the cold Michigan winters.
“There are little kitty condos with hand warmers and protection from the elements, especially the cold,” Owen said.
Because Owen is allergic to cats, he never imagined that he’d become a cat person. But then, a tiny kitten named Chilly changed his life.
“She came along at a time where maybe I needed to be rescued,” Owen said.
