Yikes, it's been far too long since I was last on, but I have a very good excuse! We just got a new addition to our family....a kitten!! (no babies yet thank you very much!).
He's been very poorly so every spare minute I have I've been using to tend to my little boy. Here is his story...(the pics are all taken on blackberrys so apologies for the poor quality)
My friend works for a recycling company doing office management and one of the truck drivers came into the office a few weeks ago with a box. When they looked inside they saw 2 little kittens! He had been about to send his cargo through the shredder when he heard a little squeak and looked a bit closer, only to see 2 tiny balls of fluff. Luckily he had a heart, unlike the scumbag who dumped the kittens there, and rescued them from a truly horrific death.
He brought them into the office and my friend immediately called me to see if we would be able to take one, as the other one had been taken right away. I was so saddened by his life so far, but because we have Betsey already I wasn't sure how she'd handle having a little brother or sister, but i asked her to send me a picture anyway. As soon as i saw him i knew he was mine and i bombarded husband with texts telling him the horrible tale and how this little baby needed a home. He thought the same as me, Betsey really is like our daughter and she's so spoiled we were both worried she would be upset with a new addition.
My friend brought the kitten home and i went round that night to help her feed him and look after him. When i walked in i squeaked because he was the tiniest thing i have ever seen! I've owned guinea pigs that were bigger!! He looked so ill, his little eye was sealed shut and he was sneezing.
My friend brought him round to my house the next day after a lottttt of convincing with husband. We took him in on the premise that we would look after him until he got better, and see how him and Betsey got along, but always with the idea that we may give him up to the Cats Protection Society Belfast if Betsey wasn't keen on him. Once we had him at home we kept him and Betsey apart because we didn't know what was wrong with him, or if it was infectious etc. After some googling, we figured out he had cat flu, which is mega contagious and quite dangerous for kittens, so much so it can kill them. Neither of us wanted to risk Betsey so i phoned the Cats Protection to see how we go about handing him in. The lovely woman told me they were full and to make sure he got better we could take him to Cedar Grove veterinary and get him treated for free!! I couldn't believe it, because i phoned the vet first and they said for just a consultation and an antibiotic it would be a minimum of £40!
We took him to the vet and she said it was cat flu and he would get over it, but he might lose his eye because it had blood ulcers from being uncared for and not cleaned for dear knows how long! After a quick clean up, antibiotic injection and some eye drops, he was already looking better!
Its been 3 weeks now of nursing him, syringe feeding him until he was strong enough to ear himself, giving him eye drops every 2-3 hours, midnight feeds and general cuddling and he is so much bigger, better, fatter and stronger!!
We are most definitely now a family of 4 and he is ours forever. Nursing something so small and vulnerable it was impossible not to fall in love with him. We named him Elvis just before we got the great news that his eye is all better and although there is some scar tissue visible on his eye, he can see out of it perfectly clear!!
It just sickens me to think anyone could do that to any animal. Surely it takes as much effort to drive a cat to a sanctuary as it does to take them to a dump where they know they will die. It's the same feeling i get when i hear of people raised on farms where drowning kittens or puppies was just a run of the mill task. Any human capable of killing an animal in that way is more than capable of killing another human being in my opinion. To take the life of another living thing is intense, especially domesticated creatures who put so much trust into us.
I'm just glad this little man is safe with us now and although he hasn't been introduced to his big sister just yet, i think she'll be just fine with him. We've had to keep him in quarantine until he's fully over the flu, but we should be letting them meet properly in a bout a week! Betsey knows there's something going in but isn;t quite sure what and when she has seen him in passing she's curious but not angry or aggressive!
The evolution of Elvis has been hard work, but rewarding and long may it continue!!
