I adopted a test lab cat. Here's what happened.

he spent 4 and 1/2 years in a toxicity testing laot in Oklahoma he had no name in the lab he was number 698 I'm Aaron and this is bagel's story for go beats he was one of over 200 dogs and cats that were used in chemical toxicity tests this wonderful nonprofit beagle Freedom project shut down that lab and what they did was unprecedented they actually bought the lab and then turned it into a sanctuary so those 200 dogs and cats were then safe from testing but they really needed homes my uh beloved dog bod and my cat lentil both passed away I was looking to adopt another animal so I flew out to Oklahoma hi guys and when I met bagel I knew immediately that my dog and cat had sent him to me to heal my heart because he was just the sweetest thing look at this puddle of love all the cats that I met in that lab setting you could feel the desperation on them that they were just Des for love and affection hello what are you doing up there what are you doing up there what I learned from The Rescuers was cats were very well socialized as kittens by the lab workers specifically so they would be easier to work with during experiments H they were also food deprived to keep them hungry a Hungry Cat is generally a motivated Cat hello hello so that's where Bagel came from oh my goodness you guys are like dogs I just knew that he was my kitty that I had to bring home we're leaving I was a little bit nervous about bringing Bagel back on the plane with me you have to understand the only time he was ever taken out of his cage was to be experimented on no enrichment no toys no cat trees nothing the second leg of the flight was very hard for him his respiration rate was very high and I was really a nervous wreck it's okay but as soon as I got him home his respiration rate started to calm down [Music] what do you see he was definitely cautious for the first few days he was actually afraid to leave the bathroom and come into my [Music] bedroom his very first time looking outside the window during the day I live right on the beach and he has a great view what a view you have buddy he's like oh my God it's a bird it's a plane everything was new and interesting and exciting to [Music] him I have a basket of toys for him and one day after not knowing what to do with toys he puts his whole body in this basket and tips it over and he just laid in the toys and it was like he suddenly figured out how to be a cat and have fun and that inspired me because I thought gosh I take a lot for granted you loving all your toys here's this little cat who's so happy to have even running water what is that he sat in the sink staring at the faucet for a few days he was really clingy for the first few weeks because I think he thought where am I am I going to lose this hello now he's chilled out a little bit but he's still extremely [Music] affectionate and we came back from the vet the first time Bagel did not speak to me for an entire day he wouldn't come near me he was running away which is very unlike him but I understand because think about what he went through it was just probably like being back in the laboratory and having a researcher probe him and poke him and do all sorts of things that he doesn't like he doesn't really use his voice he has a very tiny little whisper a bagel he makes biscuits on me he makes biscuits on the bed on the sofa beag just bacon just bakon bakon away it's actually how he wakes me up in the morning it's like his love language when I'm not around he kind of sits there and stares at the door for a very long time my next thought is to get him a friend so that when I go out of the house he has companionship I have a lot of empathy for bagel I'm a research fellow at Harvard Medical School and what I've been working on this year specifically is around advancing animal-free testing Technologies hello so Bagel is very close to my heart in many ways but he's also close to my work and what I write about and think about on a daily basis you yeah Bagel feels like an animal that I was bonded with before I ever even met him I don't know if people understand what I mean unless they've experienced that but I felt like I knew Bagel as soon as I met him [Music]

Channel: GeoBeats Animals

Views: 572,766

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Id: 8HqFeFa0KiE

Length: 4min 52sec (292 seconds)

Published: Fri May 24 2024