You never quite know what the day is going to bring and sometimes, the worst surprise could end up being one of the best things that ever happened to you. That was the experience of a staff member at Alley Cat Rescue in Mt. Rainier, Md. She came into work one morning and a carrier was sitting out front.

At first, he didn’t really think much about it. “Sometimes people donate carriers, so he wasn’t initially alarmed … until he saw the sign on top.”

Someone had written, “He is amazing. Please help.” They also wrote, “I’m sorry.”

He looked inside and there was a 3-month-old kitten with an injured eye.

“His eye was swelled up, probably twice its normal size, so we knew right away that we had to help him,” Grant said. “Our vet looked at the injury and thought it was a sudden trauma, such as the kitten falling or something got hit into his eye. There was no sign that this was an intentional injury, so right now we think an accident happened, and his previous owner just got overwhelmed.”

They started calling the kitten Kobu. His eye had to be surgically removed and he is recovering nicely.

“He is definitely a resilient kitten,” Grant said. “He has been such a champ through everything. When we first found him he was withdrawn, but has done a complete 180 since then. He is now a happy and goofy boy.”

Kobu is not a resident of the shelter’s kitten room. He is making great friends.

“He loves the other kittens and is constantly cuddling with them and playing with them,” Grant said. “He really is amazing – he’s such a sweetheart.”

“He also loves to meet new people,” she added. “Anytime a new person comes into the kitten room, he runs up to them and immediately wants to be pet.”

Kobu even managed to escape to be with the adult cats. He is not a shy cat for sure!

Grant feels that a home with other cats would work best for Kobu.

“We’re looking for him to go to a home that currently has another cat, or [with someone who] is willing to adopt him along with another cat,” she said.

After seeing the note, it was evident that his former human did care about him. That being said, it can be quite dangerous to leave a kitten at a shelter in such a manner. The heat alone from the summer could cause many problems.

“We’re always willing to help people when we can and provide advice, so we’re glad the person brought the cat … but we hope that if someone is in a similar situation, they knock on the door, and we’d be happy to help them as we can,” Grant said.