2 Women Rescue Abandoned Kittens and Turn Them Into Hiking Companions
When Kayleen VanderRee tossed out some garbage at a local park last July, she never expected to walk away with two kittens in tow. She froze the moment she heard a faint meowing coming from behind a bush, and a tiny kitten soon crept reluctantly toward her. She coaxed him out, picked him up, and then spotted a second one nearby. “They were clearly abandoned,” VanderRee told The Dodo, and with predators like cougars, bears, and eagles roaming the area, leaving them behind simply wasn’t an option.
VanderRee called over her best friend Danielle Gumbley, and with their local SPCA shelter closed for the evening, the two women made a snap decision to bring the kittens along on their weekend trip. VanderRee, who was in college at the time and couldn’t keep a pet, turned to her friend with her best puppy eyes. “I just gave puppy eyes to Danielle and said, ‘You have to keep them, as I can’t keep them, but you have to,'” she recalled. Gumbley was hesitant at first, agreeing only to a trial run. “We’ll see how they’ll do over the weekend,” she said.
That trial weekend turned into the beginning of an extraordinary life of adventure for all four of them, based out of their hometown of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The very next day, the group drove five hours north into the mountains with a few friends, kittens tucked snugly inside their jackets. “Bolt and Keel mostly hung out in our jackets,” VanderRee said. “They definitely attached to us right away and had no problem coming with us on the drive up. Keel purred the whole time. Once on the trail, they seemed right at home.” The two cats, most likely brothers, were given a clean bill of health by a vet after returning from that first trip.
Bolt, the fluffy one, belongs to Gumbley, while the shorthaired Keel is VanderRee’s. Their personalities are as distinct as their looks. Keel is affectionate and attention-loving, with a quirky habit of nibbling toes when he doesn’t get his scratches. “He likes to bite your toes if you don’t scratch him,” VanderRee laughed. Bolt, on the other hand, is the picture of calm. “You can carry him anywhere,” she said. Both cats have their own leashes, harnesses, and even life jackets for water-based adventures, which include canoeing, kayaking, and sailing alongside hiking and snowshoeing.
“Danielle and I go out adventuring pretty much every weekend or every other, so it was important to us that the cats could fit in with our lifestyle,” VanderRee explained. The cats have their own sleeping bags on trips but almost always end up curled on top of their humans instead. The women are careful to read the cats’ moods and never force them into activities they’re not enjoying. “It’s really obvious to us when they do or don’t like something, so we make sure we are doing it for the cats and not just forcing them along,” VanderRee said. Rock climbing and swimming are on the agenda for the coming summer, if the perfect harnesses can be tracked down.
The bond between the four has proven to be more than just an adventure partnership. When Gumbley tore two ligaments in her ankles last summer and spent weeks recovering at home, Bolt and Keel stayed close and helped her through the difficult stretch. “The cats really helped her,” VanderRee said. “They’ve helped us as much as we’ve helped them,” she added, capturing in one sentence what this unlikely rescue had grown into.
Cats have been hiking companions for far longer than most people realize — in parts of rural Turkey and Cyprus, domestic cats have lived alongside mountain-dwelling communities for over 10,000 years, making them arguably the original trail buddies. Unlike dogs, cats have a unique vestibular system that gives them extraordinary balance, which is part of why adventurous cats like Bolt and Keel can navigate rocky terrain with such ease. And despite the popular myth that cats are purely solitary creatures, research shows that cats who bond closely with their humans in kittenhood are significantly more likely to display dog-like social behaviors, including following their owners on outdoor excursions.
Would you ever take your cat on a hiking adventure? Share your thoughts in the comments!
