Like my proud badge says, I'm friend of ferals. I take care of ferals when I find one.
In early October 2014 someone spotted a mother cat with two tiny kittens under a bush, so they called me over. The kitties were in trouble, were hungry and cold. I set up the cage trap, I caught them all and took them to a local vet who spayed the mom and held the kittens. The mom was released a week later.
I would visit with the kittens at the vets' every day after work, one black female and a tabby male. In a few days they were tamed enough to allow us to hold them in our arms. The black one was growing day by day, the tabby one was always the same size. But each day I would see him drinking, not eating, so I asked the vets whether they had found any issue with the tabby kitten, they said that everything was fine and in a short time the tabby one would have caught up with his sibling.
The truth was different. The little tabby kitten wasn't growing, I asked the vet to run a complete blood test to see if any kidney failure was the cause. They told me that no kitten has ever suffered from bad kidneys. I insisted on this matter and 10 days later they finally ran the blood test that revealed high creatinine and BUN levels and some altered liver levels. I told the vet I was right and they were wrong, but they shut me up with the words "You're not a veterinarian, you don't know anything!".
A week later, on the last day of October, the vets told me I had to take the kittens with me because they couldn't take care of them anymore. I took the kitten with me and found a relative of mine who had an empty room where I could have taken them to. Three times a day I would go to my relative's, early in the morning, during my lunch break and before dinner. They were lovely and grew fond of me in no time.
I spread the voice to look for a new home for them. It was clear since from the beginning, though, that the tabby one wasn't alright, and he couldn't have ever found a home. In about a week, on November 10th, the black girl found a lovely home. She was already three times bigger than her brother when she left, they were 10 weeks old.
The tabby one was alone, without his sister, and started crying all day, so on the following day I took him home with me. Five weeks after catching them, he hadn't grown a bit and was still 450 grams. He was tiny and thin, but his paws were big, like a lion's paws, I named him Leo.
I took Leo to my vet (not the local vets) and she said that an ultrasound was necessary to understand what was going on. The scan revealed that the poor kitty had both his kidneys malformed, he had a bilateral kidney dysplasia. According to my vet he had a few weeks more to live. His creatinine and BUN were over the roof already. We switched his diet to renal wet food and I started with daily sub-Qs that didn't work at all. His skin was so thin and frail that he would lose all the fluids I was giving him immediately from all over his tiny body, like a colander. But he was fighting hard, and loved me like I had never seen before. He would climb up my legs and my torso up to my neck, then he would hug me tight around my neck with his front paws and would give me dozens kisses on my face, every time I was with him.
I would weigh him twice a day. He would let me sit him in a small plastic cup and I would put this cup with Leo in it on a small kitchen scale. He liked to be weighed. He was getting heavier day by day, 10-15 grams each day. I was so happy.
Then, on November 20th, in the morning, I found him weak, he had lost about 60 grams overnight. He didn't want to eat on that day, so I force fed him. When I came back from work that night he was sleeping, and as soon as he saw me, he ran to me, but after a few steps he fell on a side and couldn't move anymore. He wasn't able to stand anymore, he was even lighter than in the morning. I knew it was time. I took him to a 24h clinic to have him euthanised, but the vet sent me back home because according to her opinion he would have recovered in a few hours. Unfortunately he was terribly sick and weak, he was clearly suffering so half an hour later I went to another 24h clinic where I asked them to put him to sleep. He was almost in a coma by then. The vet had to give him very high doses of anesthetic before the last fatal injection, his kidneys were so compromised that the drug wouldn't work.
Leo passed without even realizing what was going on, I was crying like a baby. Leo had been living with me 10 days only, but he had stolen my heart. His love for me was inversely proportional to his size. He was very sick, he wouldn't have had a chance, but he was sent to me to live the best life possible for the short time he was given. I know that someone chose me as the guardian of that tiny creature. And I know that who sent me Leo was Tom, the cat that I took care of and died the year before. Leo was cremated on the following day. The man at the crematorium saw such a tiny body and felt really sad for him and gave me a huge discount on the cremation cost.
Leo was a tiny kitten with the courage of an adult lion, he didn't f ear anything and proved that even a tiny heart can hold a huge love. His courage and love will stay in my heart forever!
It's 3 years today, but it's like yesterday to me
RIP Leo!
Leo in his plastic cup during a weighing session, November 8th, 2014.
In early October 2014 someone spotted a mother cat with two tiny kittens under a bush, so they called me over. The kitties were in trouble, were hungry and cold. I set up the cage trap, I caught them all and took them to a local vet who spayed the mom and held the kittens. The mom was released a week later.
I would visit with the kittens at the vets' every day after work, one black female and a tabby male. In a few days they were tamed enough to allow us to hold them in our arms. The black one was growing day by day, the tabby one was always the same size. But each day I would see him drinking, not eating, so I asked the vets whether they had found any issue with the tabby kitten, they said that everything was fine and in a short time the tabby one would have caught up with his sibling.
The truth was different. The little tabby kitten wasn't growing, I asked the vet to run a complete blood test to see if any kidney failure was the cause. They told me that no kitten has ever suffered from bad kidneys. I insisted on this matter and 10 days later they finally ran the blood test that revealed high creatinine and BUN levels and some altered liver levels. I told the vet I was right and they were wrong, but they shut me up with the words "You're not a veterinarian, you don't know anything!".
A week later, on the last day of October, the vets told me I had to take the kittens with me because they couldn't take care of them anymore. I took the kitten with me and found a relative of mine who had an empty room where I could have taken them to. Three times a day I would go to my relative's, early in the morning, during my lunch break and before dinner. They were lovely and grew fond of me in no time.
I spread the voice to look for a new home for them. It was clear since from the beginning, though, that the tabby one wasn't alright, and he couldn't have ever found a home. In about a week, on November 10th, the black girl found a lovely home. She was already three times bigger than her brother when she left, they were 10 weeks old.
The tabby one was alone, without his sister, and started crying all day, so on the following day I took him home with me. Five weeks after catching them, he hadn't grown a bit and was still 450 grams. He was tiny and thin, but his paws were big, like a lion's paws, I named him Leo.
I took Leo to my vet (not the local vets) and she said that an ultrasound was necessary to understand what was going on. The scan revealed that the poor kitty had both his kidneys malformed, he had a bilateral kidney dysplasia. According to my vet he had a few weeks more to live. His creatinine and BUN were over the roof already. We switched his diet to renal wet food and I started with daily sub-Qs that didn't work at all. His skin was so thin and frail that he would lose all the fluids I was giving him immediately from all over his tiny body, like a colander. But he was fighting hard, and loved me like I had never seen before. He would climb up my legs and my torso up to my neck, then he would hug me tight around my neck with his front paws and would give me dozens kisses on my face, every time I was with him.
I would weigh him twice a day. He would let me sit him in a small plastic cup and I would put this cup with Leo in it on a small kitchen scale. He liked to be weighed. He was getting heavier day by day, 10-15 grams each day. I was so happy.
Then, on November 20th, in the morning, I found him weak, he had lost about 60 grams overnight. He didn't want to eat on that day, so I force fed him. When I came back from work that night he was sleeping, and as soon as he saw me, he ran to me, but after a few steps he fell on a side and couldn't move anymore. He wasn't able to stand anymore, he was even lighter than in the morning. I knew it was time. I took him to a 24h clinic to have him euthanised, but the vet sent me back home because according to her opinion he would have recovered in a few hours. Unfortunately he was terribly sick and weak, he was clearly suffering so half an hour later I went to another 24h clinic where I asked them to put him to sleep. He was almost in a coma by then. The vet had to give him very high doses of anesthetic before the last fatal injection, his kidneys were so compromised that the drug wouldn't work.
Leo passed without even realizing what was going on, I was crying like a baby. Leo had been living with me 10 days only, but he had stolen my heart. His love for me was inversely proportional to his size. He was very sick, he wouldn't have had a chance, but he was sent to me to live the best life possible for the short time he was given. I know that someone chose me as the guardian of that tiny creature. And I know that who sent me Leo was Tom, the cat that I took care of and died the year before. Leo was cremated on the following day. The man at the crematorium saw such a tiny body and felt really sad for him and gave me a huge discount on the cremation cost.
Leo was a tiny kitten with the courage of an adult lion, he didn't f ear anything and proved that even a tiny heart can hold a huge love. His courage and love will stay in my heart forever!
It's 3 years today, but it's like yesterday to me
RIP Leo!
Leo in his plastic cup during a weighing session, November 8th, 2014.