five kittens, four litters, one angel.…
When they arrived at the pound they were between two and three weeks old — in one case maybe less as his eyes were still not quite open. Hard to tell as all of them had health problems; eye infections, respiratory infections, in one case even ringworm. They arrived, surrendered by people who claimed to have found them, discovered them or “saved” them.
The admitting officer took a look and completed the paperwork — sort of. No pictures were taken, and in all cases, they were marked “feral” and “aggressive” — a code that would allow them to be quickly euthanized. They’d been judged “throw-away” animals — too much trouble and too likely to die — and so they took their places, all together in one cage, on the waiting list to die.
an angel appears.…
Fortunately for all five of these kittens, one shelter volunteer came in and saw them in their cage, offered to foster them, took them home, fed them all milk every few hours, paid for their medical treatment, and did everything she could to see if they could make it. Slowly, they all began to come around. Slowly, they began to move around. Slowly, they began to gain an ounce or two of weight.
subbing.…
We met the kittens when their foster mom had to leave town. They arrived at our house with all their medications. Adorable, but sick, we took over the job of coaxing them into good health. They began to respond. Weight gain. Health improvement. We bought toys and finally got them to play. It was hard to say goodbye when their foster mom came back.
Life in stages.…
Because they were fostered, and because they were all too small to be spayed or neutered, all five kittens were subject to being returned to the pound before they could be adopted. So what had originally been a short-term case of fostering became a longer one. During the wait, mom had to again leave town, so all five kittens came back. All happier, all healthier, and all full of energy. Still on a few medications, they finally gained enough weight to be spayed/neutered. We took them in and brought them home. Easy.
Finally, one family called about adopting, and so now we’re down to four. Tomorrow their foster mother comes home again to take them home, and we will surely miss them more this time. They’ve all developed such sweet and varied personalities, and they love attention.Our own cats would be furious if we kept them, but it sometimes seems so tempting.
Once the kittens leave, they will be adopted and we will likely never see them again. But they will be happy, healthy, and will hopefully all have found loving homes where they can live out the rest of their lives.
All it takes is one angel. All it takes is a little time. Do good. Save lives. Five kittens are alive, happy and healthy because one woman took them home.