Feral cathedral kitten adopted
Sugar Mini’s new home is smaller than her old one, but definitely less draughty.
The black kitten was likely raised feral in the ruins of the Christ Church Cathedral, but now lives with a family in a suburban Christchurch home.
She was discovered on the construction site of the new library opposite the cathedral in May. Electrician Donald Gunning found her in a crate – alone and separated from her mother at just six weeks old.
His partner, Josie Graham, said the construction workers on site fell in love with the kitten and named her Gary.
‘‘All the boys oohed and aahed over it and fell in love with her,’’ she said.
‘‘The boys on the work site thought she had come from the cathedral because they had seen a bunch of cats in there.’’
A Christchurch man also saw three black kittens and their mother emerge from the cathedral ruins one night that same month. He took a photo of one of the kittens.
The couple decided to adopt the kitten and she now lives in their St Albans home with their 4-year-old daughter Mackenzie and 4-month-old son Harrison.
‘‘I went down and picked her up with my son and daughter and took her straight to the vet,’’ Graham said.
‘‘She was pretty feral. She was full of lice and riddled with worms.
‘‘She was only six weeks old when we got her. We had to give her weaning food because she was still so little.’’
Once they realised the kitten was female, they asked their daughter to come up with a new name for her.
‘‘My daughter spent a long time considering what to call her and came up with Sugar Mini,’’ Graham said.
‘‘[The kitten] was really shy at the start with everyone except my daughter. She loves our daughter and follows her around the house. She has also made friends with the neighbour’s cat and they cruise around together.
‘‘She is still a bit feral still and has ruined all the curtains and the furniture. But it was worth it.’’
A The Press reporter saw a black cat on the roof of the cathedral last week.
A Press reader sent in a video from March of a cat clambering through the cathedral ruins and Christchurch man Bernard Anderson photographed a cathedral kitten in May.
The Church Property Trustees, which controls Anglican land and properties in Canterbury, said feral cats had been spotted on the cathedral site and captured on security cameras in the derelict building.