As Harrison squirmed on his back, Tucker looked up at his mother like older brothers do.
His bright eyes are wide open and ears slightly back.
Harrison is vying for Tucker’s attention. Flat on his back, paws up, his entire body squirming. All 1.6 pounds of him.
Don’t let Tucker’s look fool you, though.
Tucker loves Harrison. Harrison loves Tucker.
Separated by three years and a little over 12 pounds, the black-and-brown tabbies are kindred spirits.
Both are foster failures for Suzanna Berry, who had originally offered temporary homes for the castaway kitties.
The fact Harrison is so trusting already is a gift.
The first week of April, someone tossed the 8-ounce kitten out of a car window on the Arlington Expressway service road. A Good Samaritan scooped him up and took him to the Jacksonville Humane Society.
No broken bones, but Harrison had a split upper lip and major damage to the skin around his bottom jaw.
The kitten — named after Harrison Ford who has a scar on his chin — couldn’t eat or drink.
After surgery to repair the damage, Harrison was being taken back to the shelter.
That’s when Berry first saw him. She told herself the little guy couldn’t spend the night in a cage. He needed a foster mom to care for him.
It was going to be a one-night sleepover, then Harrison would go back to the humane society to recuperate, Berry told herself.
After his checkup the next day, though, Berry decided to foster Harrison until he recovered.
It didn’t take long for the resilient kitten to start getting comfortable. Purring, trusting, feeling safe with Berry.
Harrison then officially became the kid brother to Tucker, Marco J.J. and Millie.
“He’s such a bright, little spirit,” she said of Harrison.
Tucker had joined the family after a colleague of Berry’s couldn’t keep him anymore.
He was going to stay with her until his permanent home was found.
Turns out, it already had been.
Now, 3-year-old Tucker spends time playing hide-and-seek with Harrison, his 6-week-old best friend. Always more gentle than his 14 pounds.
Berry fosters during kitten season and the society’s Operation Silent Night during the holidays.
She does it often enough that she has a spare room in her home that serves as temporary quarters.
It’s always hard taking the visitors back. She cries every time.
Except twice — when Tucker and Harrison made themselves at home.
@editormarilyn
(904) 356-2466