Burt's story starts in a field between the freeway and a large shopping center. His mother is a small brown tabby who has been delivering her kittens in this field for several years. She’s very smart and trap savvy, otherwise she would be safe inside a home now. In spite of her unwillingness to come in and be safe, she regularly visits a little shopping center where the workers put food out for her. When her kittens are old enough, she brings them over to eat. Kittens being the naive little creatures they are, wander into the offices and make friends with the humans. And that’s how we take her kittens into rescue.

Burt came with his sisters, Valerie & Nellie last year. They weren't very happy about leaving their mom behind at just 8 weeks of age. But inside of 2 days they were mush, loving their human mommies and generally having a good time. Unfortunately, last year was a hard year for black cats. There were to many black kittens and not enough people looking to adopt them, so this family happily made themselves comfortable in their foster home. Nellie found her forever home a couple of months ago, but Valerie & Burt continue to play and sleep the days away in foster care.

So what is Burt really like you ask? Very affectionate! He wants to be top cat but doesn't want to fight about it. If someone else is in your lap, he climbs up to your chest and lies down. If the chest is also occupied, he goes to the neck. He won’t be denied his comfort and he gives it right back with a wonderful deep rumbling purr. Burt is also very curious and wants to be involved in everything his humans do which makes sweeping the floor quite a challenge. Burt has developed a problem with one of his back legs. It just doesn't want to cooperate. The doctor said that the tendons holding his kneecap in place are loose and the kneecap is slipping out of place when he walks. The doctor is amazed at how docile and gentle Burt is with this very painful condition. Burt needs surgery to reconstruct his knee joint in order to allow him to live a less painful life. But the vet bill will run between $2,000-2,500.

A Message from Burt: "Meow, and thank you for your consideration. If you cannot give me any money, I understand. Please share my story to a friend or as many friends as you can. I have no money, so I know how it is when you are strapped and I really appreciate you just helping in passing the word around. I am truly grateful to all of you for all that you do and I will be thinking of all of you when I am running, jumping and playing. I will never forget! Oh yeah by the way, I am available for adoption and if you adopt me or find someone to adopt me, I will promise to love you forever!"
Thanks again with headbutts...
and sloppy kisses...
BURT

Just a small donation will be purrfect... so if you send money it will go all to Burt. Every cent!! Please send 5, 10, 20 dollars (or more) to Starlight Stepping Stones, P.O. Box 38, Norco, CA 92860 or you can use a credit card on our pay pal account at www.paypal.com and the e-mail address to send money to is LindaEleven@aol.com all donation are tax deducible and we will happily send you a receipt.

check in on Burt's progress