Gandalfie the white in dreamland
Sweet little rescue Gandalf(ie)
Written by ©Lise-Marie (flickr: matiescat).
In October 2008 I received a call from my vet saying that someone had brought in a four-day-old kitten that they found in the road in Stellenbosch (Western Cape, South Africa). As I was equipped with everything needed and had experience in raising such young kittens, the tiny baby was placed in my care. To this day no one knows how he came to be all alone in the middle of the road… all we knew was that he was a little fighter. Accordingly he was named Gandalf the White — just like our strong little Gandalfie who appeared magically out of nowhere.
Gandalf and his new furiends
As he still needed to be fed every two hours, I had to take him to work with me and his first few weeks were spent in the intray on my desk. Unfortunately someone complained about a cat at work *sigh*, and I had to start leaving him at home, which I dreaded doing. Amazing how things work out though – the weekend before his first week home alone, a litter of 4 kittens just slightly older than Gandalf was placed in my care. This worked out perfectly as this meant that they could keep Gandalf company! As they were a few weeks older and much more agile, we were thorougly entertained by watching Gandalf trying to keep up with them, when in fact all he could really still do was putter around.
Gandalf crept deep into my heart very quickly and I knew within the first few weeks that I would not be able to part with this unique little kitten. He is a very inquisitive cat — and to this day almost always has a slightly surprised look on his face as if he’s asking, What’s going on? What you doing? Where you been? And he investigates everything and anything — not scared of a single thing. The staff at my vet has even honoured him with title of Mr Personality!
When he still needed to be bottle-fed regularly, I used to carry him around with me in a big sturdy recycle-friendly shopping bag. And that seems to have stuck with him as he loves getting into any bag (even more so than cats usually do). You can’t put down a bag without him getting in it with a look of, Where we going now?
He also loves water! You will often find him in the basin just cooling down, or he’ll sit with me when I bathe and just soak his tail in the water.
When he was younger it just didn’t feel right calling this little creature by such an imposing name as Gandalf the White – and he used to go by just “Alfie”. Now, however, at just over two years old, he has grown into an absolutely gorgeous adult cat, — a magnificent Gandalf the White.
Photos courtesy of ©Lise-Marie (flickr: matiescat)
Beautiful Gandalf today!
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awww, what a cutie…
Gandalf the White is GORGEOUS! Thank you so much for putting so much of yourself into making sure that this precious furbaby had a great life! THANK YOU!!!
Wow!!! Cute as bugs ear as a kitten and a very handsome kitty as an adult!
wow very handsome adult cat he turned out to be, from a cute little kitten!!!:)
a real cutie
Okay, there was no way I could resist reading such a captivating story. One, because little Alfie was soooo cute and needed you so much and two, because I have my own Gandalf kitty at home. Thanks for the wonderful story, your Gandalf is beautiful inside and out.
This makes my day!
Love it….I think tho most likely is the mother was moving them..for whatever reason put him down and may have gotten scared or even forgot him. Either way..great story…I wish I was still fostering..miss it
The vet's staff should've named him Mr. Purrsonality! =^..^=
He is so beautiful!
Gandalf is a Beautiful kitty!! He was a cute little kitten but has grown into such a regal cat!! Thank you for such a heart warming story.
What a sweet kitty!
good story with a cute kitty. glad it all worked out, but i'd still like to say some rude words to your tattle tale coworkers!
I fostered a magnificent older kitty named Gandalf for about a month several years ago. He was very stately and serene, but after a few days I got him to play with feathers and some toys. Being in a shelter for too long, cats forget how to play…so sad. He had beautiful eyes just like this Gandalf – who, at 4 days old, knew where he was destined to be! He is beautiful~~thank you for sharing!
Squeeee! Pink kitty toes, pink kitty nose, little kitty belly–my head's going to explode from the cuteness!
what cute baby pics and how he has grown into such a handsome kitty!! Awesome that you have each other!!
He's a stunner! Can see why you didn't want to let him go!
Quite the handsome young man
So happy that you were able to save him , and nurse him to growth 
Adorable!
Oh, Gandalf!: be careful, you look as a "teddy bear", you could be mixed up!. Qué gatazo!. Must have had good care!.
What a lovely little boy–and handsome young “man”! Great story!
AWESOME NAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Beautiful story from the get-go. It is wonderful to think you would have continued w/ little Gandalf's care…even @ work. Shame on your co-worker. Continued blessings!!
Sooooooooooo sweet.
Thanks for people like you.
THERE'S A SMILE ON MY FACE,AND A TEAR IN MY EYE- STORIES LIKE THIS DO THAT TO ME GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR HANDSOM GANDALF!
very lovely, thank you for share pic
Gandalf is a magical kitty!
Gandalf is so handsome! Lovely pictures.
Fantastic of you to save a life. My rescue kitty is asleep on my desk right now. I love that you put a picture of Gandalf grown up. Kittens do not stay little for long and it is good to remind people that the grown up cat is who you will be spending the most time with.
I love the pics of Alfie/Galdalf! He grew up to be such a handsome cat! He's lucky to have someone who cares for him so much!
Very touching story! Beautiful kitteh!
That is one of the handsomest cats ever! Those eyes!
What a cute baby! He grew into a beautiful adult cat!
fantasic rescue stories…i love happy endings