Squeaker's Odyssey
A RAIN Success Story
Squeakers’
Odyssey started like many of our foster kittens. He and his sister,
Carina, were strays. My friend Joanna saw two kittens along the side of a
busy road near downtown Orlando on 7/12. She called me to find out if
anyone in had room. I told her I could take them so
she went to pick them up. There were some teenage boys standing around and
Joanna asked them to help catch the kittens since they were a bit
skittish. They told her that they didn't like cats and were afraid of
them. Joanna got two of them to overcome their fear with a $10 bill.
After catching the kittens she asked if there were any others. They
told her there had been three, but someone kicked the black one to death
earlier that day. No wonder these kittens were scared of people. Joanna
brought them to me and I put them in the spare bathroom. They seemed to be
very happy to get food and water as they attacked it with gusto. In the
morning I checked on them and they both hid. Nether Joanna or I had heard
a sound from them. That night two other volunteers, Sue and Marlene, came
over. They bathed them (lots of fleas on the boy), put on Advantage,
shots, etc. The kittens still had not made a sound. When we held the
little boy, he was breathing hard and we figured it was from being
terrified. After the first week the little girl started coming out to be
petted when I went in to check on them. The little boy still hid and
breathed hard when I picked him up.
Then on July 23rd
to my surprise, he squeaked at me when I picked up the girl. He also pawed
at my ankle. He had decided he wanted attention. He continued to squeak at
me if I picked up the girl and not him. That is when he got his name. I
named the little girl Carina.
Thursday, July 25th, Sue and I took the kittens to be tested for FeLV/FIV as we figured they were now old enough. While there I was holding Squeakers and he was breathing hard even though he was calm. The vet didn't like how he sounded and did an x-ray. That is when we found out he had a diaphragmatic hernia, most likely induced by trauma. His diaphragm was ruptured and his intestines were up with his lungs. The vet was not optimistic and was surprised he had survived this long. Sue suggested we take him for a second opinion, which I did the next day. The second vet was more optimistic. We OK'd the surgery, which was done later that day. Squeakers’ surgery cost $373.
Squeakers is a sweet little
orange and white tabby about 11 weeks old when the surgery was done. He
recovered completely and loves to be petted and purrs at the slightest
touch. Squeakers was adopted and is taking care of a nice couple's house
now.
It
appears Squeakers’ "crime" was just being a cat and the
sentence was a kick from some teenage boys. Thankfully it doesn't appear
he holds all people to blame for his injury. It is a shame that too
often the truly humane and unprejudiced ones are the animals, not the
people.
Squeakers'
sister, Carina, is a sweet and pretty tri-color tabby. It appears she
avoided the boys. My Merlin 'attacked' her with kisses the first day she
was out in the house. She must have liked it because she went back for
more. She would come to me often and climbed up to sit and sleep on my lap
and shoulder. She was later adopted by a nice family who says she is
'as sweet as cake'.
After surgery Squeakers had to be kept confined. I
found this ‘Pet Tent’ at a cat show that weekend. It gives him room to
move around while keeping him from running and climbing (and maybe
falling). It is setup in a separate room so the other cats don’t excite
him.
Cost including floor pad was about $100.
Squeakers'
sister Carina joins him for dinner while he is recuperating.
RAIN
(Rescuing Animals In Need) is a non-profit group in the Orlando, FL. area
dedicated to helping stray and displaced animals. For more information go
to
http://www.rescuinganimalsinneed.org/
or call 407.620.9736. All animals are spayed or neutered, tested (FeLV/FIV for cats, heartworm for dogs) and vaccinated based on age and
how long we have had them.
