Kitten Rescued From Research Lab Learns How to Cat in Care of New Family (PHOTOS)

While most people think of cats as household companions, they are also used in medical experiments in which animals are subject to mistreatment, pain, and even death. Luckily for Maggie, a sweet gray kitten who according to this Imgur user, belonged to a medical research facility, she will never know such a life after she was adopted into her forever home. Maggie was part of a breeding program at the facility aimed at keeping a particular gene alive, but since Maggie didn’t have the gene, she was of no use to the research program.

That’s when one of the lab technicians and his girlfriend stepped in to give her a loving home. In the care of her new guardians, Maggie is learning how to do lots of important cat things, like play in boxes, learn how to tangle string, and find the perfect sneaky places to play hide-and-go-seek with her new doggy best friend.

Maggie was exactly three months old when she was adopted on Boxing Day. 

She first met Matilda, the family’s dog, who would soon become a good friend.

It wasn’t long until she discovered that playing with ribbon is her favorite thing.

Lots of ribbon.

Seriously, ribbon is the best thing in the world!

And boxes. Boxes are the second best thing in the world.

Belly rubs too. They’re pretty fabulous.

Ooo, a new hiding place!

We’re so glad to see Maggie in a loving home with her new family. We think this kitten is well on her way to living a very charmed cat life. To help other animals in laboratories across the country, you can take action by Support organizations like the American Anti-Vivisection Society and the National Anti-Vivisection Society who are working every day to get animals out of labs and celebrate the work of facilities like those at the Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing at Johns Hopkins University.

All image source: benedictinmycumberbatch/Imgur