The Story of Fifty-Kitty
For those of you who don’t know too much about me and my motives when it comes to helping save homeless and endangered cats, I guess the best way to explain it is with a story about one of my house cats. His name is Fifty and he was named that because when he was just a little baby kitty, he appeared to have fur that had a variety of different shades of gray. So, I called him Fifty like from the movie.
Fifty was born under my kitchen, outside to a mother kitty who was feral. Her name is Mama Cole - Now Mama was a small kitty by comparison to many other female cats - and I think that it was because she started having babies way too early and all of her energy went into caring for her young. Fifty was to be the last kitten she would ever birth. The litter from which Fifty came from had been a hard one and Fifty was the only kitten to have survived.
As I said, Fifty was born outside under my kitchen window in the spring of 2015. Mama’s nest was an insulated styrofoam cooler I had made up into a winter shelter for the clowder of community cats which I cared for back then when I lived in North Braddock, but shortly after his birth, Mama Cole moved Fifty in order to save her only surviving baby from the possibility of attack because there was also a brood of young Raccoons living in the area who would also come into my yard to feed, so in the first days I really didn’t get to meet Fifty. At least not until a number of weeks later when Mama started bringing him into the yard to wean him.
From the instant I saw Fifty for the first time I fell in love with the little ball of furry love! I watched him scamper about and play in the yard, rest and take the sun with Mama and the others in the clowder, and boy, did he love to eat! I was of course, planning on bringing him into the house for a short period after he was old enough to be neutered and tested and given his shots, and then hopefully find someone that I knew who would be able to give him a good home! But as we all know, sometimes things don’t go as we want them. The colony I cared for was slammed suddenly with a case of Upper Respiratory Infections!
Now all of the adults faired pretty well without my need to intervene with antibiotics and most got only mild cases. However, Fifty wasn;t so lucky. Being small and his immune system not on full, he got hit with it the worse and within a couple of days, I could see that his life was in serious jeopardy. (Photo #1 & #2) - His left eye was swollen and full of puss which was painful and draining badly. His right eye was also infected but not as bad. What could I do? I couldn’t let him suffer - so on the morning of June 15, 2015 - while he was occupied eating his breakfast, I stepped out of my screen door, scooped him up into my arms and then dashed back into the house before Mama or any of the others in the clowder had noticed what I’d done!
At first, there was no plan or anything - I knew he wouldn’t be able to survive for long on the streets, not in his condition, maybe days at best. But I got him indoors and went right to work on trying to find some help. Well, that help came quick! My Best “Human” friend and Guardian Angel came to Fifty’s rescue, Karen. Karen knew that time was not on our side and the quicker we could get him to the vet, the better his chances would be - so she drove all the way from the South Hills area, to North Braddock and then took Fifty and I to my vet out in Monroeville. When the vet had a chance to examine Fifty, she told us that he would need to take antibiotics every 8 hours and that I had to put an ointment into his eyes every 6 hours. And if I wanted to be extra helpful, warm compresses on his eyes every 4 hours. She gave us pain medication for Fifty because he was in so much pain due to his eye. I went home with Fifty that evening, making a promise to him that I would do all I could to help him get better. The vet believed that in all liklihood, he would loose his left eye. She believed it had ruptured behind all of the gunk and swelling.
And so, for the next month, I took my life and gave all to Fifty - Up every four hours to put compresses on his eyes and every six hours to put in ointment in them and every eight hours with the antibiotics and pain meds. I would craddle him in my arms and hold him close so he could feel my warmth and hear my heartbeat, and I would talk to him and sometimes sing to him and let him know that he was safe, and well loved. Sometimes, I would doze off holding him! - During the day I would keep the door open to my apartment and Mama Cole would plop herself on the landing and sit there with her baby on my side of the screen door so they never lost sight or hearing of one another. For a month solid, Fifty and I would take the trip to the vet’s office and he became the brightest star there and the vet was amazed after the first ten days of how well he was responding to the medicine, the caring and the love.
I went so deeply into debt dear people for Fifty, that I am still - these 3 years later, still paying on that vet bill - repaying I should say. (See pic #3) - And today? well, one look at him will tell you how my boy is doing! (Pictures #4 and #5) --- He is a special kitty, very special indeed. On several occasions Fifty has sensed something wrong in the middle of the night and has awakened me by biting me on the tip of my nose or by biting my toe hard enough to wake me but not injure. And each time, my blood sugar levels were bottoming out and I needed to bring them up!
And many of you already know from my facebook page, I’m helping to foster some baby kittens until they’re old enough to be adopted. And at night, as the young babies and their mama sleep, you can find Fifty, perched up top of their habitat, keeping watch over them to make sure nothing or no one hurts them...
So, would you call me just another cat lover? - I love all creatures on this planet we call home but I connect and have always connected to cats - Big or small, I love them all! I will always do what I can for kitties! Someone once told me that cats can see differently than humans, that they can see our auras and they know who they can trust and who they can’t. I was told that my aura is a bright blue - Cats are able to see that and they know...
And so, for the next month, I took my life and gave all to Fifty - Up every four hours to put compresses on his eyes and every six hours to put in ointment in them and every eight hours with the antibiotics and pain meds. I would craddle him in my arms and hold him close so he could feel my warmth and hear my heartbeat, and I would talk to him and sometimes sing to him and let him know that he was safe, and well loved. Sometimes, I would doze off holding him! - During the day I would keep the door open to my apartment and Mama Cole would plop herself on the landing and sit there with her baby on my side of the screen door so they never lost sight or hearing of one another. For a month solid, Fifty and I would take the trip to the vet’s office and he became the brightest star there and the vet was amazed after the first ten days of how well he was responding to the medicine, the caring and the love.
I went so deeply into debt dear people for Fifty, that I am still - these 3 years later, still paying on that vet bill - repaying I should say. (See pic #3) - And today? well, one look at him will tell you how my boy is doing! (Pictures #4 and #5) --- He is a special kitty, very special indeed. On several occasions Fifty has sensed something wrong in the middle of the night and has awakened me by biting me on the tip of my nose or by biting my toe hard enough to wake me but not injure. And each time, my blood sugar levels were bottoming out and I needed to bring them up!
And many of you already know from my facebook page, I’m helping to foster some baby kittens until they’re old enough to be adopted. And at night, as the young babies and their mama sleep, you can find Fifty, perched up top of their habitat, keeping watch over them to make sure nothing or no one hurts them...
So, would you call me just another cat lover? - I love all creatures on this planet we call home but I connect and have always connected to cats - Big or small, I love them all! I will always do what I can for kitties! Someone once told me that cats can see differently than humans, that they can see our auras and they know who they can trust and who they can’t. I was told that my aura is a bright blue - Cats are able to see that and they know...
WE DESPERATELY NEED HELP FEEDING THE CATS AND KITTENS
THIS YEAR! ---PLEASE DONATE IF YOU CAN
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