12/23/2022
This poor little kitten was brought to Cheryl B a few days ago along with a litter mate. The pair had been dumped, were found by a caring person, and we were alerted. I named this one Button, because he is as cute as one and because he is struggling to hold it together. His ears are bent, which means that they were likely frozen and the ends will dry up and fall off. He is horribly thin, basically bones wrapped in dry, brittle fur. He was nearly completely shut down when he came, was lethargic, had no interest in anything, refused food even though we knew he was starving and finally had to be syringe fed. He wouldn’t interact with his litter mate, wouldn’t play, wouldn’t make eye contact with me, just sat hunched in the farthest corner of the kennel. My heart sank and I was sure that we were too late, that he would simply fade away into death like they sometimes do when life had been just too much to cope with. He looks like he is maybe 6 weeks old. I was very worried about him so I did what we have done many times before - tucked him in my shirt and carried him around with me while I did my work and my inside chores. I would touch him frequently, pet his head, rub behind his ears. I would talk to him while I did this and before you knew it, some changes started to happen. He turned his head to look at me, he leaned into my hand when I rubbed behind his ears. Small things, but oh so important! When I put him in his litterbox to do his business, he would finish and then walk his shaky walk back over to me and look up as if to say ok, put me back in your shirt now lol. And then, today, the magic happened. He surprised me when I placed him so that I could feed him. While I was filling the syringe, he bent on his own and drank his slurry from the bowl! When I picked him up to wipe his face when he was done, he closed his eyes and started the quietest, most amazing purr!!! Absolutely the best!! I do believe that Button has decided to stick around!