It Took A Village
The newborn kitten cried loudly in the cold, dark night. His 2 siblings and mom had already been found and taken to warm safety. As their rescuer turned to leave, the newborn made one last attempt at being heard. The rescuer shone her flashlight looking for the wee baby. He’d rolled under a building and was delicately extricated. He was so cold. Too cold to have even been alive. But he was very much alive.
He and his mom and 2 siblings were taken to a 2nd rescuer where they were kept safe and warm. The next morning, he was warm and nursing, or so the rescuer thought. All 3 newborns seemed well as they snuggled close to mom.
When I called to check on the mom and 3 kittens and to see if the rescuer needed help, 2 of the kittens had already died. I decided to take the final kitten and bottle fed it. When I picked him up, he was terribly cold. Too cold to have even been alive. But he was very much alive.
He took warm milk from an eye dropper for me and after I had warmed him up, I wrapped him in a warm hand towel and put him under my quilted shirt and drove us home.
That night was tough, he ate well but had no resources to keep himself warm. I checked him continually during the night and kept him warm. It was a constant battle for him, but he was a fighter. Such a little fighter.
I woke about 3:00 a.m. only to find him cold again so I wrapped him in that same hand towel and held him close to my heart to share my body heat with him as I sat up in bed and we both napped.
At 8:00 a.m. I contacted a local rescue to see if they had any nursing moms who may accept this little guy I named Rocky. They did have a nursing mom with 5 newborns they had just taken in that were being housed at a local vet clinic. I rushed Rocky to the vet clinic and the mom accepted him immediately.
Unfortunately, Rocky was too weak to nurse, so the vet/clinic owner syringe fed him and kept him warm. We were hoping if they could keep him going long enough that he could nurse he’d get past this crisis point. I’d offered to bring Rocky home so I could care for him, but it seemed he would have a better chance of survival if he stayed in the vet’s care.
Wee one passed away overnight. He only weighed 2 ounces and though we knew the odds of his survival were slim we had tried. I will pick Rocky up from the clinic this week and tearfully bury him on my farm with some of the other rescues that I have given a part of my heart over the years.
It took a village to try and save this sweetie: Three rescuers, a vet clinic staff, 2 furry moms and many other human ones. And it was worth every minute of it. Every. Single. Minute.
This is what the rescue community looks like even when no one is watching. We all came together to help a little one too tiny to survive on his own and gave him a chance to live. This is what those who rescue and work at vet clinics and shelters and others who love and care for animals do.
Though I know we did all we could and more, it still hurts to lose one. Even though those of us in rescue save many lives, we always think of and grieve for those we couldn’t save.
We wonder what we could have done differently or better that would have saved them. It haunts us, but we continue to try with the next one and the next one and the next. Because we can’t not try and help. And we know it matters, at least to those we try to save. It also matters to us.
Because of Rocky’s village he left this earth, warm, fed and loved by many who will miss him and are glad they got to know him if only for a little while.
This is why I rescue.
Jackie Deems copyright 2023
