A kitten “screamed” endearingly at the person who cared for him every day until he got back on his paws.
About a month ago, Andrea Christian, who fosters for St. Francis Rescue, received a call about a 3-week-old kitten desperately needing help.
The kitten named Karl was in very rough shape, and nobody had stepped up to take him. Despite having her hands full with other fosters, Andrea couldn’t say no when she learned about his situation.
While the kitten was en route to Andrea, she got a call from the transporter who noticed that Karl was having trouble breathing. They feared for the worst.
By the time Andrea got the kitten, she “could tell by the dirt in his fur that he had been sitting in water, and had somehow aspirated.”
The odds were stacked up against the tiny kitten. Despite the grim state he was in, Andrea wanted to give him a fighting chance.
She got an oxygen machine from a fellow volunteer and set up a homemade oxygen incubator for the kitten. For the first few days, she had to drip-feed Karl drop by drop as he couldn’t close his mouth to breathe.
“Despite his pneumonia, Karl was such a tiny fighter. Thank goodness he was a tiny screamer as well.”
Whenever Andrea came in to check on Karl, the little guy would gather every ounce of his strength to speak. No matter how tired he seemed, he never stopped trying to “scream” at his foster mom, whether it was feeding time or just petting.
“I feel like him screaming at me to tell me about his disinterest in me not being his momma is what helped clear his lungs,” Andrea told us.
After a week of drip and syringe feedings, things began to look up for the little man. Karl was strong enough to suckle from his bottle for the first time, and his appetite significantly improved.
“It was then that I knew he was going to be okay.”
Through painstaking care, Karl could finally breathe normally. His food intake increased several fold, his personalty was emerging, and his need to yell for attention continued.
With his newfound strength, Karl started waddling and exploring around his space. He was not shy of asking for food, voicing his many opinions during his care.
“He has realized there is fun to be had outside of his oxygen bin with beings other than the foster mom.”
Karl has bounced back on his paws and graduated into a proper playpen where he can run and jump around with so much vigor. He’s befriended the resident cats and is starting to learn some boundaries.
“He loves to run and play, always comes back to check on me to make sure I am near,” Andrea shared. “He is obsessed with ball toys and the crinkle tube. He is forever wrestling with whatever stuffy I have in there with him.”
Yesterday, Karl reached another milestone when he crossed the one-pound mark. He celebrated by scampering around his room and checking out every cat toy he could scour.
In the near future, they hope to pair him up with a feline friend so Karl can have a buddy to tumble and snuggle with.
Karl doesn’t scream at the top of his lungs so much any more as he follows his foster mom around, being her cutest little shadow.
