59th Street Bridge Kitten

Jeff Bridges and the paint can that transported him to his foster home.

Shawn was a BARC Cat Loft volunteer, facilitating many adoptions and getting the cats posted on Petfinder among other chores. I’ll let her tell the story of this little furball…

Jeff Bridges is the kitten I found while I was running over the Queensboro Bridge Thursday morning. How the hell he got on the pedestrian walkway of the bridge–a long, long fall on the right, eight lanes of traffic on the left and non-stop on-ramps at either end is anyone’s guess. But there he was, scampering toward Manhattan with no intention of letting himself be caught. Pretty much all the other options besides somebody grabbing him were certain death, so I went after him.

After a short pursuit in which I was afraid I would chase him either over the side or into traffic, I caught him trying to hide under a railing. I had to reach in at an angle and my grip was awkward. I think only my shelter experience kept me from letting go when he panicked and started biting my hand like his life depended on it. It really hurt and it bled a lot. But I just hung on until I could get a good grip scruffing him, then maintained that very hard scruff (ouch, it must have hurt him) with one hand while I rifled through some construction workers’ stuff with the other hand to find the paint can I ended up putting him in. I grabbed a scrap of plywood to put over it. The construction workers, who were fairly far away, saw only some frenzied woman ransacking their stuff, and came lumbering over to challenge me. I had to explain it all to them and keep them from lifting up the board to look in. Then I walked the little guy off the bridge, hailed a cab with my foot and prayed the fumes in that paint can weren’t going to kill him. The can, it turned out, was old enough that fumes weren’t an issue. But it’s not like I had time to think about that up there on the bridge with probably less than a minute or two before he would have somehow managed to squirm away from me. You can see the print on the paint can, which actually says Queensboro Bridge, in some of the photos. You can also see the band-aids on my fingers, which are fine now.

At first I assumed he might be feral, but it turns out he’s a total purring sweetheart who obviously has had a great deal of handling and affection. He’s about 7 weeks old, appears to be in good health, and is negative for feline AIDS and leukemia. He is weaned and uses the litterbox. I have treated him for fleas and worms and will be giving a distemper shot and having him neutered shortly. Anyone who is interested in adopting him should contact me directly, not the shelter. There will be an adoption fee of $50 to $100 depending on how long he stays with me and how much the vet work costs. I will require an adoption contract and I will do a home visit and reference check. I strongly prefer to place him in a home with at least one other cat or kitten, but will consider letting him go solo if there are gushing references from people I know. Do not contact BARC! Email Shawn directly: HERE UPDATE: Jeff Bridges has been adopted to a great couple from Greenpoint!

This cat is a little gem. But I warn you, you will go slowly crazy wondering how he ended up on that bridge.

For lots of photos of Jeff Bridges and a photo re-enactment of his time on the bridge, click HERE