An adopted kitten has won the hearts of his Williams Lake owners and their other pets after being surrendered by a patient at the hospital in Williams Lake.
Brielle and Mackenzie Gagnon adopted the kitten, who they named Bourbon, after fostering him for six weeks.
A nursing assistant at Cariboo Memorial Hospital ER, Brielle was on shift when a patient arrived by ambulance with a kitten. The patient surrendered the kitten on Jan. 21, 2025, and Brielle arranged for her local veterinarian to take him.
“I contacted the vet in the morning to see if he survived overnight,” Brielle recalled. “He was in pretty rough shape.”
Bourbon learned the kitten had done quite well overnight and was transferred to the Williams Lake BCSPCA. Curious and worried, Brielle contacted the BCSPAC, asking if she could see the kitten and in turn they asked her if she would be willing to foster him.
“We fostered him for six weeks. We’d bring him in for weekly checkups, medications and injections.”
Their family of pets already included two dogs - Tennessee and Duke - and two cats - Whisky and Oreo.
The name Bourbon for the newest member seemed fitting and during the first week they kept him separate before they integrated him with the rest of the animals.
“As soon as we brought him into the house you could tell all the other animals sensed that he was not well,” Brielle said.
Integration of the kitten with the other animals in the house began after the second week with 20-minute intervals and Brielle and Mackenzie noticed the other animals clung to Bourbon.
“They really wanted to be near him and were all arguing over who got to cuddle first. It was so cute.”
Gagnon confirmed it is not uncommon for animals to show up at the ER, especially if someone has been in an accident or they are not originally from Williams Lake and are driving through.
Their felines Whisky and Oreo were also rescued.
Whisky was tied up in a garbage bag at the end of someone’s driveway in Clearwater when they lived there.
“Someone saw the garbage bag moving and notified the Clearwater Humane Society so they took him in until he was well enough and then we adopted him as well,” she said. “He’s got kidney disease because has was so malnourished. We have to give him lifetime medications, luckily we have pet insurance.”
Brielle described Oreo as their “hidden cat,” who likes to come out at night.
“We found her in a barn full of ear mites.”
As they don’t have any children, the Gagnons enjoy raising their pets and taking on strays at their acreage.
Bourbon is no disappointment either.
“The love that he gives us is incredible,” she said. “When we were fostering her, Mackenzie was saying ‘we are not giving her back, we have to put in for adoption’ and throughout our foster I kept sending the SPCA pictures of how well he was doing and they were telling us he was doing so well we needed to adopt him.”
