Saving Bella......

When we were in North Carolina last May, my niece Debbie and her family had a family reunion picnic at a park. Afterwards we went back to Debbie’s house for awhile.

Debbie has her own cats, but there are also a couple of cats who come up in her yard and she feeds them. That was when I met “Bella”. Bella is a young white and gray cat. She was very skinny when I saw her. Debbie fed her when she came up, but supposedly Bella “belonged” to the lady next door. The only problem with that was, the lady next door didn’t really take care of Bella and she was always outside or in Debbie’s yard.

Bella

I asked Debbie why she didn’t just take Bella in and take care of her as her own. Debbie said she couldn’t because the lady would not like that. It didn’t make sense to me, because I don’t think “the lady” would even miss Bella.

In June, after we got home, I talked to Debbie one day. She said that Bella was still around and she was still feeding her. There was just something about that little cat. She was so affectionate and just wanted to be cared for. I asked Debbie again if she could take her in. Bella needed to go to a vet and get her shots, but she also had never been spayed. She was about eight months old.

On July 3, Debbie called me and said, “Bella had her kittens under my doorsteps.” I didn’t know that Bella was going to have kittens. I had seen her in late May and she was pretty skinny.

Debbie said she thought there were five kittens. She put them in a box and moved them to a shed in her yard. Since it was summer and it was in North Carolina, the temperatures were high and it was very humid. Debbie called me one day and said that she probably needed to bring Bella and her kittens inside. They had fleas though and she didn’t want them in the house. I suggested that she get Frontline or Advantage and treat Bella for fleas and then bring them in.

The next day, she called and said she had put some Frontline on Bella and brought her and the kittens inside where it was cool. By now, there were four kittens. Debbie wasn’t sure if she had just thought there were five, because she couldn’t find a fifth one.

Bella's little calico

One of the kittens was a little female calico. She was not eating and even though Debbie had gotten some kitten formula and was helping Bella nurse the kittens, the little calico just got weaker and weaker. Unfortunately, she didn’t make it. That left three kittens.

Debbie took Bella and the kittens in for the vet to examine. She planned to bring Bella back to be spayed when she had weaned the kittens. The vet checked the kittens and sent them home. He said it would be fine to bathe the kittens to rid them of fleas, but to make sure they were kept warm while they dried. Debbie gave them a bath and pronounced them flea-free!

KK, Baby, and Holstein

One of the kittens was white with black spots. That was the one that Debbie thought she wanted to keep. She named him “Holstein”. Another one was white with brown spots. Her name was “Baby”. Then there was little “KK”. She looked like Bella.

Debby noticed that the kittens’ eyes were opening at about two weeks old. But, “Baby’s” eyes remained closed. She seemed to have a discharge which crusted over the eyes. Debbie called her vet and he said to use damp compresses to keep the eyes moist. The crustiness still didn’t go away.

Debbie took “Baby” to the vet. She was treated. Then Debbie called me and said that one of the technicians wanted to keep “Baby”, so she let her take “Baby” home with her. Another technician wanted “Holstein” and, although Debbie had planned on keeping him, she couldn’t turn down a good home for him. The technicians still had to bottle feed “Baby” and “Holstein” because they were still nursing.

Now Debbie just had “KK”. She was being weaned, but was still nursing with Bella. “KK” was on kitten food as well.

Yesterday morning, Debbie called me from the emergency vet and said that “KK” had been fine earlier, but then she saw her just lying on the floor. She was listless and she didn’t look like she was alive. Debbie called her mother and they took “KK” to the emergency vet.

They were giving “KK” fluids and running tests, but they wanted to keep her possibly overnight. Debbie left her there. She received a call a few hours later. “KK” had passed away. Just like that.

When Debbie called to tell me, all I could say was that kittens are fragile. “KK” would have been only four weeks old today. There are so many kittens who are born in the wild and you wonder how they survive with all odds against them. But, somehow they do. We don’t know how many don’t survive though. You’d think that kittens born in a house, being fed and taken care of, would have a better chance. But, that’s not always the case.

We lost two of Jezibel’s kittens within a week of their birth. They were in the house, warm and safe from the outdoors, but they were so fragile at that age. One had always been weak from birth and didn’t eat properly. He died early one morning. We discovered him when we went up to feed the kittens their bottle before going to work.

While we were out that night, the other one was separated from his mother and the warmth of the other kittens. He got too cold. When we came home and found him, we tried to warm him up, but he didn’t recover.

A couple of weeks after that, we found Lexi, also one of Jezibel’s kittens, about three weeks old, just lying with the other kittens. She was not moving and even though her eyes were open, it was like she was paralyzed. We took her to the emergency vet right away. He gave her some Karo syrup mixed with warm water. She seemed to perk up some, but there was not much else he could do. He said she might not make it, but to take her home and keep her warm.

I bundled Lexi up and she slept next to me, between Charlie and I all night. I woke up periodically to check to see if she was still alive. She did make it through the night. It was not until later the next day that Lexi seemed to come alive again. We put her back in the bed with Jezibel and the other kittens. She started nursing and moving around.

And just recently we had the problem with our newest kitten, “Rhody”. We really didn’t know if he was going to make it or not. Of course, he did, and he seems just fine now. But, with young kittens, I’ve learned that they can be gone in the blink of an eye and most of the time, you never know why.

Debbie said when she talked to her husband, Vince, he said, “You’re not going to keep Bella, are you?” Vince was not at home. He was on the road, driving a truck.

She told him, “Yes, I’m keeping Bella.” I told her I was glad. “At least you saved Bella.”

More later.......