Little ball of white fluff, in the middle of a car lot. That's what it looked like. At first, I thought it was a ball of feathers, as in a pigeon, there are plenty of them around here.
"A dead pigeon?" I thought... as there was no movement. As I got nearer, it looked more and more like a kitten instead, a tiny one, that was just fluff, sitting in a ball. Its head was lying forward on the ground. It didn't look good.
I meow-ed to it. Surprisingly, its head lifted, shaky, but a sign of life. But in such a sad state - its fur looked wet, sticky, sickly and really scrawny, just skin and bones. What made me more worried, was that where its eyes were, were just lumps of goo and it looked like they may have been gouged out - pecked by birds? More goo covered its nose. But it was alive, and somehow I couldn't leave it there, exposed.
The SPCA was near enough to me, should I take a chance and send it there?
Long story short - I scooped it up, put it in my car, got to SPCA; they were full. No way they could take it in. One of the staff there, Elynna, said the doc was not in yet, but she got some saline and cotton, and cleaned its eyes and nose.... she was an angel! The gooey stuff removed, kitty opened its eyes (thank goodness, no gouged out eyes!) and they looked clear, even if teary and its nostrils were clean. It could breathe... and see.
Something had to be decided. I couldn't keep it, and I couldn't leave it. Elynna gave me an option, she said if I could keep it for two weeks, she'll find... a solution. A ray of hope. I told her I had an appointment and had to go, and if she could keep it there til the doc came in. She agreed! I had to leave my contact number, details, etc. Which was fine, I was going back.
Meanwhile, impossible as it looked, kitty actually got up on its wobbly feet and moved (I can't call it walk) a short distance on the counter. That was the first sign of how tough this little kitty was going to be...
I got my handphone out and took a shot before I left, her first, of many many to come... Elynna confirmed it was a 'she' and guessed she was about two months old from her size, even though she looked tiny in her current state.
Unfortunately, when I got back, the doc wasn't too friendly and didn't want to examine kitty; she just bluntly stated that they only did vaccinations and neutering - that's all. And asked me to go look for a commercial vet!
I found Elynna and kitty, and again she helped to recommend a new vet that opened in the neighbourhood. And soooo, kitty went with me. To the vet...
At this point, it must be said that both the vet and Elynna did not give kitty very good chances; 50-50 would be looking on the bright side. But the vet added, one can never tell. Soooo, kitty went home with me! Together with a can of recovery food, antibiotics and a couple of syringes for food and medicines, liquid multi-vits, eye drops and a good measure of Frontline for the fleas. Yup, kitty came complete with fleas too! What luck!! NOT!
Skin and bones...
Too weak to even move much... this was what kitty looked like
So.... without actually deciding if we were going to keep kitty, we took her home - what choice did we have? After literally picking her off the street, we couldn't just dump her back on the streets, certainly not in the current condition she was in. One thing both Elynna and the vet said was that she would definitely not survive if she was left there.
And why did I still take responsibility for her? Maybe I wanted to see if I could "rescue" her, some heroic idea of saving her from definite death.
We had a cat once.... for 20 years, and when she died some 17 years ago, we made an unspoken promise not have another. So, we were totally unprepared to have this kitty thrust onto us! Certainly, home was not kitty-proofed either. Many people easily adopt pets - just a matter of letting it stay... unfortunately, we are not that "kind of people". It IS a big deal for us to be responsible for a life, be it a lil kitty. Afterall, they then become a member of the family, do they not...
Day 2: After some light clean up; still not strong enough to walk, mostly sleeping and resting...
Day 5: Deep sleep... on sofa and cushions
In two days' time, it will be two months since we found Kitty - yup, we call her "Kitty", meaning Clear/Clean & Pure (abbreviation of Catherine/Katherine). Somewhere along the line, I guess we decided in a by-the-way fashion that we would keep her. (Or not?) And let me say frankly, it's not been all roses, far from it - cats and all animals, like humans, each have their own characters. Kitty is a direct opposite of our old cat.
More on that later... It's been quite a journey thus far, and it's only the beginning...
🐾 🐈 🐾 🐈 🐾 🐈 🐾