Bringing Joy

Dr. Ryan Anderson ('19)
A kitten who nearly froze to death last winter has been selected by Petco to be a Love Stories winner. Clem, a big-eyed, orange fluffball who just celebrated his first birthday was at Whiskers TNR of Warren County (Iowa) when he got the attention of Ryan Anderson through social media from a post by classmate Dr. Loni Ellsworth. At the time Clem was just a kitten and Ellsworth had to remove the right front limb, the back left limb at the ankle, most of his tail, one toe on the front foot and two toes on the back foot - all due to frostbite. Anderson says he and his wife, Lindsey, immediately "fell in love" with Clem and applied to foster-to-adopt. "A few weeks later, we brought little Clem home after a third surgery, not knowing if there would be more surgeries and not knowing how this little guy would do long term," Anderson said. "In those first few weeks, we realized how resilient, strong-willed, and determined our little Clem was." After Lindsey suffered a miscarriage, Clem's love and determination has become the healing his pet parents needed most.