When Karen Hendrickson learned about a stray kitten hiding among the rocks at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she felt an immediate pull to rescue her. With cold, stormy weather and the waves of Lake Michigan crashing dangerously close, the kitten’s situation was becoming increasingly dire.
“It was freezing out there,” Hendrickson, a volunteer with the Urban Cat Coalition, told The Dodo. “The waves were really starting to crash in … if she had gotten wet, I don’t think she would’ve survived.”
The kitten, a 5-month-old tortoiseshell, wasn’t easy to catch. Despite several attempts, Hendrickson and other rescuers couldn’t coax her from beneath the rocks. Undeterred, they left food and water for her, hoping to try again.
In early January, the weather worsened dramatically. Temperatures plunged, snow blanketed the ground, and Lake Michigan’s waves battered the rocky shore. Hendrickson knew time was running out.
Returning to the beach, she tried a different strategy. “I thought, ‘Well, it’s a kitten, and they like to play,’” Hendrickson explained. Without any toys on hand, she improvised, using the shoelace from her boots to tempt the kitten. Along with that, she offered bits of deli ham.
Her patience paid off. The kitten, slowly gaining trust, finally ventured out, and Hendrickson seized the moment to grab her. “I was so happy to finally catch her,” she recalled. “I was shaking with excitement. It was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I got her.’”
The kitten was immediately taken to a vet, where it was confirmed that, despite weeks of exposure to the cold, she was in relatively good health, aside from needing treatment for fleas and worms.
The rescuers decided to name her Ruby, a nod to the rocks where she’d taken shelter. “We thought about names related to the lake or rocks,” Hendrickson said, “but ‘Ruby’ just felt right. She’s like our little gem in the rocks.”
Since her rescue, Ruby has blossomed into a playful, confident kitten. “She loves attention,” Hendrickson said. “She comes running over and is very talkative.”
After months of recovery, Ruby found her forever home, capturing the heart of her new dad. “She has a patient new papa and a feline brother to boss around,” the Urban Cat Coalition shared on Facebook. “We couldn’t be more thrilled with this happy ending.”
For Hendrickson, knowing Ruby is safe and warm is the ultimate reward. “That was such a high for me,” she said. “I was so happy.”