Morris the Famous Rescue Cat

Morris the famous rescue cat was a cat destined to be just a statistic, one of many millions of homeless, unloved and unnamed or claimed rescue cats until someone playing God at the Hinsdale Humane Society at 22 N. Elm Street, Hinsdale, Illinois, USA plucked him off the conveyor belt to heaven and he began the road to stardom. To how many of us does that happen? It happened to Morris in 1968, so he is now in heaven, over the rainbow bridge, but his successors have all been rescue cats of the same appearance.

Morris was handed to an animal handler who adopted him and Morris eventually found himself representing 9Lives brand cat food as the advertising mascot. The current Morris is a very male looking orange tabby cat. He actually looks intact (not neutered but I am probably mistaken). I cannot at the moment find a photo that is copyright free or licensed for use. But I can say that his current successor is a chunky (cat fancy language is cobby) boy or some presence.

His handler currently is Rose Ordile. Rose always wanted to work with animals and she has been handling Morris for the last 7 years or so. Morris is also 9Lives spokesperson and teaches people about animal care and encouraging adopting cats from cat rescue centers and shelters.

Morris fronted Morris's Million Cat Rescue program and travelled the country in pursuit of the one million cat rescues mark. It was achieved in June 2008. Well done Morris and 9Lives. Many people who live with male orange tabby cats call him Morris, unsurprisingly.



Morris the Famous Rescue Cat to Home Page