We meant to post this blog entry a while back, but we just now got around to finishing it. Even though we didn't write about it immediately, we still wanted to dedicate a post to the newest addition to our family: Іван Козак (or Ivan Kozak, in English). In Ukrainian, his name is pronounced "ee-vahn koh-zahk", and our nickname for him is "Ivanko" (ee-vahn-koh). But if that's too hard, you can just call him the English name "Ivan".
About a month-and-a-half ago, we took a different route than normal to the supermarket, because our normal "marshrutka" (bus) didn't come after a 30-minute wait. We were walking along the side of a busy road on our way to the store, when Trey almost stepped on a little gray ball of fur. We stopped and looked at it, and a little face peeked out of the fur - it was a little kitten! This poor little guy had been abandoned and was shivering in the cold, as it was just above freezing that day. He was terrified of us and tried to get away, but he couldn't move at all. Something appeared to be wrong with his leg, and he was very weak from not eating. He was so weak he couldn't even make a sound.
We couldn't bear to leave him there (not even Maggie, who is allergic to cats and has never liked them), so we picked him up and took him with us. Our grocery shopping trip changed into a quick trip to buy some milk, cat food, towels, and a few other necessary items while figuring out what to do for him. After feeding him a little milk with a Coke cap, he perked up a little bit, but was still quite weak. We took him to a vet (who thankfully spoke a bit of English!) that afternoon, and we learned that his leg problem was due to radial nerve damage. On the plus side, he doesn't feel pain in his leg; but on the negative side, we couldn't do anything to make it heal. The vet said we could massage it a little, but really, it was just a matter of chance as to whether it would heal or not. We took him home that night, fed him bathed him, made him a little bed to sleep in, and adopted him as our cat!
It took us several days to come up with a name for him, and in the end, we gave him a first and a middle name since we couldn't decide on j
His first name, Іван/Ivan, means "God's gift". Before we found Ivan, Trey in particular had really been wanting a pet. Not considering our birds at home (which just aren't the same as mammals), his last pet was before college, and he loves animals. In fact, the day we found Ivanko, we had gone into pet store to look at various pets, but left empty-handed, because we didn't want to buy one. After finding him, we learned that Trey's mom had been praying the previous week for God to give Trey a pet. We also learned from the vet that he was born at the exact time we came to Ukraine! This little kitten that needed a home so badly. What a special gift from God!
His middle name, Козак/Kozak, refers to the Cossacks, Ukraine's warrior heroes (who happen to have awesome mustaches). We gave him this name for several reasons. First of all, we chose it in honor of his Ukrainian heritage; Ukrainians seem to love their Cossacks. Secondly, he is such a fighter, since he was surviving in the freezing cold with no mom and a leg that didn't work. And lastly, as you can see in the photos above, he had scabs that looked like a mustache when we found him. Thankfully they've healed by now, because he looks much better without a mustache! (Maggie's opinion)
ust one. His first name, Іван/Ivan, means "God's gift". Before we found Ivan, Trey in particular had really been wanting a pet. Not considering our birds at home (which just aren't the same as mammals), his last pet was before college, and he loves animals. In fact, the day we found Ivanko, we had gone into pet store to look at various pets, but left empty-handed, because we didn't want to buy one. After finding him, we learned that Trey's mom had been praying the previous week for God to give Trey a pet. We also learned from the vet that he was born at the exact time we came to Ukraine! This little kitten that needed a home so badly. What a special gift from God!
His middle name, Козак/Kozak, refers to the Cossacks, Ukraine's warrior heroes (who happen to have awesome mustaches). We gave him this name for several reasons. First of all, we chose it in honor of his Ukrainian heritage; Ukrainians seem to love their Cossacks. Secondly, he is such a fighter, since he was surviving in the freezing cold with no mom and a leg that didn't work. And lastly, as you can see in the photos above, he had scabs that looked like a mustache when we found him. Thankfully they've healed by now, because he looks much better without a mustache! (Maggie's opinion)
Ivan is the most friendly, cuddly cat either of us has ever seen. Trey had two cats growing up, and Ivanko is far more sociable than either of them. Like most cats, he likes his space at times, but he also loves to snuggle, sleep on or near us, and be pet. Despite his injured leg, which still hasn't healed, he is just like any other kitten. He doesn't seem to notice that one leg doesn't work, and he jumps, climbs, and plays like a maniac. Maggie is mildly allergic to him; thankfully no watery, red eyes most of the time, but she sneezes more than normal and her skin gets red, itchy, and irritated if he scratches her. But if she takes allergy medicine, her symptoms improve substantially. We love our little cat, and we hope to take him back to the States with us at the end of our time here, Lord willing. We knew we would be ministering to orphans when we came here; but we didn't know one of them would be a cat! God's always full of surprises :)