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Rocco

Litter number: 22
Kitten number: 90
Gender: m
Color: orange + white

Siblings: Moby, Bibi, Trina

the biggest and strongest and unquestioned alpha kitten of the upstairs Castaways. We called Rocco the "teflon kitten" because none of the sniffles, intestinal bugs, facial munge or other issues that his siblings confronted ever stuck to him. Rocco's face and fur were immaculate the day he arrived at 50K and remained that way until he left. He also gained weight faster than his siblings and never had trouble eating. While sharing the bunkhouse and playground with true siblings Bibi, Moby and Trina, Rocco never had an equally-matched opponent to race or wrestle with, but that changed when we brought Cassie up from the villa. She was a week or two older and gave Rocco all he could handle. Rocco wasn't much for prolonged lounging with his peeps, but he was always one of the first to greet us… and he was never shy about letting us know when it was dinnertime or he wanted to be picked up. And he was always ready to remind his siblings who was boss.

Since Rocco was a great-looking and healthy orange/white kitten, we knew he'd be adopted quickly. While we were on vacation, he was. Our first hint that something was amiss came in a e-mail message we received while camping in Colorado, where we were generally off the grid. The message said he was on antibiotics for URI symptoms, but had stopped eating and lost half a pound. We suggested a few different foods to try in our reply, and then were unreachable until our return to 50K several days later.

The day after we got home, we were horrified to hear that Rocco had been diagnosed with panleukopenia and been put down. His adoptive family was understandably heartbroken. At this writing, we're still trying to understand what happened... and still concerned that Rocco might not be the only infected shelter kitten. When we learn more, we'll take whatever steps we can to make sure what happened to Rocco never happens again.

Arrival date: 6/30/2009
Departure date: 8/17/2009