by Paula Hunsacker
On Thanksgiving break last year, my grandkids, Adam and Nana, wanted to go to the CCSPCA shelter and save a kitten from being put down. We went to the shelter to visit them, and Nana noticed two little kittens about four months old in a kennel. I looked at them and thought to myself: these two kittens are so sick with UTI, I wasn’t sure if we weren’t too late to help them get better. I tried to get the children to look at other kitties at the shelter to get their attention away from these two kittens. We walked around the shelter and looked at other kitties. My grandkids always went back to these two sick kittens, asking me if they could be saved. I was silently thinking that I was not sure if I could get them well. My grandkids looked at me and said, “If anyone could help them get better it would be you Grandma.” So I thought, “Wow the pressure is on for me to save them and get them better.” It’s that age-old dilemma: grandkids becoming attached to the kittens and possibly getting broken hearts if I couldn’t heal them, and knowing that I failed. So what to do? Then the shelter staff informed me that at the time there had been a total of four kittens in this litter, but two of them already had died.
After a lot of pressure from Adam and Nana to pull these two kittens, I did. I knew in my heart that I had to do everything I could to get them well. I also knew it was going to be a lot of work. Both little tabby girls were polydactyls with extra toes on all four paws, and looked like perfect twins. It was so hard to tell them apart, but my grandkids knew which kitty was going to be their particular kitty. Adam named his kitten Mittens; Nana named hers Muffins. We put different color collars on them so I could tell them apart when we got home.
At the rescue, we began the work of getting them well. We went through rough times and good times, but since they were so young we did not have a lot of options as we would with older cats. Keeping in mind the wishes of the grandkids, we spent many trips to the vet and hours caring for them at home. I watched the grandkids talking to Muffins and Mittens, telling them that they were going to be OK, and that grandma was going to help them get better. No pressure! Being in rescue I know how deadly UTI can be in kittens so young.
I am so glad to say that Mittens and Muffins pulled through and are the sweetest, loving kitties. They are growing up to be so good, and my grandkids just love them to the moon and back. These two little sisters are very bonded together. Now I have two happy grandkids and two healthy kitties! It was a challenge that I could not lose. As for my grandkids, they think their grandma is their hero!
Rescue is 24/7, and no matter what, you do whatever you can for the wee ones.
Check out the Feral Paws website to learn more about them, and keep an eye on their Facebook Page. They are based in Fresno, CA.
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