I rescued a tiny black kitten on Thursday afternoon (27th August). Her eyes were completely stuck shut with cat flu. Her mother, a stray in Conquereuil, had deliberately pushed her away from the other two kittens in the litter. There she was, sitting in a car park against a car wheel, in the blazing sun. I just couldn't leave her. I picked her up—she didn't resist at all—and brought her home, fully intending to give her a chance at life. Since the other kittens in the litter were already eating dry food, I thought if she could just make the switch and start eating dry food too, she might have a fighting chance.
I spent so much time, several times a day, cleaning her gummed-up eyes so she could open them and see, and bottle-feeding her water and food. At first, she ate some wet food quite well, so I thought she’d make it, but sadly she wasn't taking enough and soon refused to eat altogether. I tried taking her back to her mother, but she chased her away. Her two sisters seemed to recognise her and vice versa, but when they went to nurse, the mother refused to feed Bella. I tried to walk away, but Bella, whose eyes were clean now, followed me down the street...
I think out of the three kittens, only one has a chance—the only one who looks bright and alert. The second one also has cat flu, and the mother has a new litter every two or three months and is completely unapproachable.
Bella passed away this Monday mid-afternoon right in front of me. She probably wasn't fully conscious anymore; I thought she was having a nightmare. I stroked her and went to get her bottle ready, but when I came back, it was over.
You can't really tell from the photo, but she was smaller than my hand. She must have been barely three weeks old.
I had a feeling it would end this way because the odds were really stacked against her, but I hoped that with my experience, I’d manage to save her.
I think during the week, I'm going to try to negotiate with the local council to see if they'll fund the mother's spaying and some medical care, and have her registered to the council. The Mayor is quite sympathetic to the cause, and there are already several stray cats registered this way, but this one is really sick, very contagious, and above all, very feral, so I’m worried that if they do catch her, they’ll decide to put her down.
So, tonight I'm feeling really down. It only lasted four days, but I'd grown attached to her, and most of all, it just feels so unfair. Anyway, she’s left my bed full of fleas, so I’m trying to see the funny side of that—at least it’s proof she existed, even if it was only for a short time.
They say cats have nine lives, so I hope this one was just a practice run and that she’ll be born again under a luckier star...
Bye for now.
