"June has always been June"

June's nine year adoption anniversary is on Wednesday, so to celebrate here is some recent June News. A few years ago, I found June's actual birth date (August 9, 2015) in an old microchip profile, and her vet was set to the Oregon Humane Society. Ever since then, I've been like okay, how weird would it be for me to reach out to the Oregon Humane Society and ask them if they know anything about her? After another fruitless evening in the Wayback Machine, I wrote this unhinged email:

Hi there! This is super low priority and I'm not sure if this is something you could provide, but I was wondering if you keep any records of past cat adoptions. I'm pretty sure my cat June was adopted from OHS as you were listed as the vet on her HomeAgain chip profile. Her birth date is 08/09/2015 and her HomeAgain subscription expired 10/24/2016, so assuming she was chipped on 10/24/2015.

So, wondering if you have photos or info about maybe Gadget (180663) or Minnie (179942), as their available dates match the date she may have been chipped. I found them in the Wayback Machine, haha! https://web.archive.org/web/20151025132027/
http://www.oregonhumane.org/adopt/?type=cats

I've attached a photo of her, maybe if you have photos you could match her face stripe? If you don't keep records then please disregard!

"I found them in the Wayback Machine, haha!" might be my official slogan, for better or worse.

My (not really secret) goal was to get kitten pictures of her so that I could absolutely lose my mind crying about them. I also did want to know if she had any leg injuries on record, because there was evidence of one on a recent x-ray. 

They replied right away and said they could only release records to her original owner, who happens to be one of my number one enemies. I do not know who they are, but they did abandon June about a year after adopting her. She was found on the street covered in wounds and brought to Dove Lewis, and then transferred to Multnomah County Animal Services. MCAS said they called, emailed, and even knocked on her owner's door twice, and they never answered. She was rehabbed in foster care and I adopted her on February 11, 2017.

Anyways, I sent the Oregon Humane Society her Dove Lewis records and explained what happened, and they agreed to release her records ("Poor little June! Thank god someone brought her into Dove Lewis.") and they sent just some kitten vet records. But then a few minutes later Axton reached back out to say:

I just sent over June’s medical records that we have from her time in our care. However, I also wanted to include these photos of her as a kitten that we also had on file! I have adopted all but one of my pets as adults so I would love to have been able to see them when they were babies. One of the pictures is especially cute because she looks so bedraggled haha!

 And oh my GODDDDD:

I burst into tears, and still do when I look at them. It is SMALL JUNE. She sits...like June! She has all of her stripes! A baby!!!!!!! Also, her name was June from birth! No one changed it for years and years also oh my god she was SMALL, look at her little LEGS. 😭😭😭

I emailed them back after I stopped crying long enough to see the words I was typing on the screen:

Hi Axton and Kristin!

I did receive her records, and also totally burst into tears when I saw her baby photos, oh my gosh, thank you so much! She was SO small. 😭

Was her name June when she was with OHS as well? I’ve also attached some more recent photos for fun/to prove that she has become slightly less scrungly!

Thank you so much for your help!! I felt silly reaching out about this but I’m so glad that I did. I just set up a recurring donation to OHS to help y’all take care of more animals like June.

I also attached a bunch of photos because I couldn't help myself:

They replied with:

Hi Gina. We’re so glad you reached out, too! Yes! June has always been June :) We’re so happy you kept her name….she probably answers when you call, or not. We all know how cats can be.

We love these additional pictures, too. Every week a newsletter goes out to staff letting them know about our shelter animals post adoption. We will definitely include June’s updated Happy Tail.

Thank you again for showing her so much love. We are so relieved she found the right home after such a tough start (and yes, she’s so teeny in that first kitten shot!)

It was just such a lovely and heartwarming interaction. If you live in Portland (or anywhere, really) and want to support their work too you can set up a recurring monthly donation. Also, be sure to send any weirdly intense emails about your cat that you want to send because it's worth it.