Ditto’s Page
Ditto was our president and founder, Jonnie’s, first kitty. She was a beautiful tortoise shell cat with lots of spunk, attitude and heart. She came from a litter of kittens from a cat that roamed Jonnie’s apartment building when she was just a girl of nineteen. Ditto’s mother, Doll, was a neighbor’s kitty, but once Doll had her kittens, the neighbor locked her inside for several weeks so she could not get to her kittens to feed them. Fortunately, Doll had given birth to Ditto and her siblings on Jonnie’s porch, so Jonnie worked tirelessly to feed them and keep them warm, waiting for mom to come back during the weeks when she was locked away and unable to care for her own kittens.
After a few weeks, when the neighbors assumed the kittens had perished, they let Doll out and she returned to her kittens and took them back to her home, leaving Jonnie in puzzlement as to just exactly where the kittens she had been bottle feeding went. Later, after several weeks, Jonnie found Ditto and her siblings inside the neighbor’s house; at this point, two had already been killed by random accidents because of the children, two had already found homes, and the last kitten that hadn’t been killed or adopted was Ditto. So Ditto came to Jonnie, and Jonnie cared for Ditto for the rest of her kitty life.
Ditto’s life was long for a cat – she lived to almost twenty years old. Through thick and thin, Jonnie and Ditto stuck together. Even when Ditto was stuck in an apartment nearby for two weeks, Jonnie busted through the glass window to retrieve her and bring her back home to safety. Even when Ditto didn’t gain any weight after months of rehabilitation and though the treatment cost thousands, Jonnie was there to pay it and take her home and love her just the same. Even when Jonnie moved, went through school, got her heart broken, Ditto was there to keep her company, curl up in her lap, and let her know that all was right in the world.
Ditto was Jonnie’s best friend and her baby – and on Feburary 4th, 2011, Ditto was put to sleep after a long and happy life spent almost entirely with her human companion. DREAM stands for “Ditto’s Rescue, Every Animal Matters” to continue the memory of Ditto and her contribution to our president’s life through rescuing cats and other animals just like Ditto; ones in situations that could improve with a new, happier home, where they can live out their lives in happiness, warmth, and companionship.