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Ren & Py
6 years ago
About a year ago, my roommate 
kathmandu and I took in an orphan kitten. Kath posted about it in his journal here ( http://www.furaffinity.net/view/28534869/ ). Well, now it's my turn.
There was a mother cat raising a litter under one of the office buildings where I work. Folks noticed that of the four kittens, one had a wound on its neck and another had an eye infection. Nothing was done for a time. I felt the Texas summer sun made it seem unlikely they would fare well in the long run, especially the compromised ones.
Monday, a co-worker managed to snag the smallest one, a calico with the neck wound. The wound turned out to be a bot-fly larva. DO NOT Google images for this unless you have a strong stomach. The co-worker freaked out a little at seeing the true state of the kitten's injury and handed it off to me. As I'd seen exactly this type of parasitic injury in YouTube videos about kitten rescues, I knew what it was and how bad off the calico truly was. I immediately decided unilateral action was needed. I wasn't going to take one kitten to the vet, I was going to take them all.
In the end, with the maintenance crew's help in pulling up a wheelchair ramp, I managed to snag the two healthy kittens. Afterwards, mother cat and the remaining kitten disappeared.
At the vet, they removed the larva (a horrible thing for the poor calico to suffer through) and treated the gaping wound it left behind. The staff found a foster who could take care of her. I was told (and have seen similar cases on YouTube) the kitten will likely fully recover with lots of TLC.
That left the two healthy kittens.
I knew when I made my decision that it would come to this. I doubt I will regret it. But man... it takes work!
I don't know how real parents of their own babies manage without going crazy or dropping from exhaustion. I've only had to adjust my schedule and priorities slightly, since I'm already helping care for our grown cat. But having to tend to that poor little calico with its nasty wound and undernourished body... I don't think I could do it. Not with a full time job, anyway.
I don't know how or where this journey will end up. Our cat could use a friend in the house. Maybe even two. I just don't know. But until then, I'll be busy feeding, cleaning up after and trying to socialize two nervous but normal kittens so they can have the best possible start in life.
By the way; the black one is a male, tentatively named 'Renfield' and the orange mackerel tabby is a female I'm calling 'Pyanfar'. Here's a picture I posted earlier this morning.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/32427126/
kathmandu and I took in an orphan kitten. Kath posted about it in his journal here ( http://www.furaffinity.net/view/28534869/ ). Well, now it's my turn.There was a mother cat raising a litter under one of the office buildings where I work. Folks noticed that of the four kittens, one had a wound on its neck and another had an eye infection. Nothing was done for a time. I felt the Texas summer sun made it seem unlikely they would fare well in the long run, especially the compromised ones.
Monday, a co-worker managed to snag the smallest one, a calico with the neck wound. The wound turned out to be a bot-fly larva. DO NOT Google images for this unless you have a strong stomach. The co-worker freaked out a little at seeing the true state of the kitten's injury and handed it off to me. As I'd seen exactly this type of parasitic injury in YouTube videos about kitten rescues, I knew what it was and how bad off the calico truly was. I immediately decided unilateral action was needed. I wasn't going to take one kitten to the vet, I was going to take them all.
In the end, with the maintenance crew's help in pulling up a wheelchair ramp, I managed to snag the two healthy kittens. Afterwards, mother cat and the remaining kitten disappeared.
At the vet, they removed the larva (a horrible thing for the poor calico to suffer through) and treated the gaping wound it left behind. The staff found a foster who could take care of her. I was told (and have seen similar cases on YouTube) the kitten will likely fully recover with lots of TLC.
That left the two healthy kittens.
I knew when I made my decision that it would come to this. I doubt I will regret it. But man... it takes work!
I don't know how real parents of their own babies manage without going crazy or dropping from exhaustion. I've only had to adjust my schedule and priorities slightly, since I'm already helping care for our grown cat. But having to tend to that poor little calico with its nasty wound and undernourished body... I don't think I could do it. Not with a full time job, anyway.
I don't know how or where this journey will end up. Our cat could use a friend in the house. Maybe even two. I just don't know. But until then, I'll be busy feeding, cleaning up after and trying to socialize two nervous but normal kittens so they can have the best possible start in life.
By the way; the black one is a male, tentatively named 'Renfield' and the orange mackerel tabby is a female I'm calling 'Pyanfar'. Here's a picture I posted earlier this morning.
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/32427126/
Most amazing thing about this post is Wirewolf taking a picture... then posting it. It is the end times I tell ya.
*smiles...
V.
Not that I'm complaining.