I’m sure everyone gets tired of me climbing onto the old soap box, but this subject is near and dear to my heart.
See the little black darling in this photo? He spent 2 nights outside hollering in pain and terror. Ernie finally found him after an early morning (5AM) trek outside with a flashlight. He was on the porch running scared and just hollering like he was dying. We fed him and backed off to watch. On my way to work, I found another one just like this…dead on the road. I thought about this baby all day. When I arrived home, I went out and sat on our back steps. The little one was coming closer, but veerred off to get in a cat carrier on the porch. Ernie stepped out of the house and closed the carrier door. One trapped kitten.
We put the whole carrier in the bathroom with a tiny litter box, food and water. Left him for a couple of days then pulled him out to check him over. His little foot pads were badly burned and he was starved for food and love. Ernie carried him to the vet. Little guy was wormed, ear mite-ed, flea’ed and sent home with ear drops. We can use vitamin E on his pads. He’s about 8 weeks old, has great potty box manners and is a little lover kitty. We’ve named him Spooky. Here Spooky shares his space with Fraidy and P.B. both rescue cats from years past. He’s fitting in pretty well with most of the big kitties.
That same day, this one showed up at the office. She was starving and trying to get in vehicles with people. She kept getting under their tires and would’ve ended up smashed.
She’s a “tortie” Black with dabs of orange & white. She’s about 10-12 weeks old. Has long fur and a really long tail. She’s a lover. She got shoved into the carrier with Spooky and came to Burkett. We’ve named her Snuggles. She has clear eyes, clean ears and has an alley cat appetite. She still needs to visit the vet.
In 2 days, Snuggles and Spooky have become nearly inseparable and play well together. In another few days, they’ll be protecting each other when the big kitties slap at them. Makes it much better when it’s time to put them outside as they’ll stay together and watch out for each other. The little ones seem to be safer in numbers.
It really chaps my butt to have these babies thrown out and left to fend for themselves. It’s triple digits here in the afternoons…to be dumped out in a strange environment with no food, no water and no experience with “outside” dangers…what are people thinking? Would they do that to their kids? To their elderly parents? No…but they sure don’t hesitate when it’s helpless puppies and kittens. What would happen to them if people like us didn’t rescue them and either give them homes or he-home them? And who is going to stand the vet bills? The food? Give them a safe place to live?
just because we live in the country doesn’t mean we WANT every critter you throw out. It certainly doesn’t mean we can afford to feed and care for them or suffer the heartache of putting them down and burying them. Wouldn’t it be much more humane to take them to a no-kill shelter where they would be loved and re-homed? I know the Lord sends these babies to us to care for and we won’t turn them away, My prayer is that the original owners are eventually called to explain their throw away actions. There is no acceptable reason for dumping helpless animals on the road. NONE.
Susan ~ Patchkat
