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| Skita (previously Termite) |
This is the story of 4 kitties... 4 little black ferals. The first one lives in the backyard with his skinny mama. He is the one outside survivor of a litter of 6. DH and I took the others to the Adoption Room at our local Animal Shelter. We left this one (the runt) with his mama. We originally called him Termite, but now call him Skita as he's no bigger than a mosquito... and although about 3 months old... is still tiny and somewhat shaky when he walks. DH and I don't think he'll ever be normal, but we're giving him a chance. His mama watches him very closely and is never far away.
Having an AMT background, I've done a little research and believe that he may have a mild case of Cerebellar Hypoplasia, which is a bit similar to Cerebral Palsy in humans.His walk is shaky, his head bobs, and he occasionally falls over. Otherwise, he eats, sleeps, and plays like any other kitten.
There's another half grown female in the yard who's mother and sibling took off and left her when she was about 6 weeks old. She has attached herself to skinny mama and Skita... and acts like an adopted older sister keeping an eye on Skita when skinny mama isn't around. DH and I call her Aunt Polly.
Then there's another black mama who showed up with 2 little black kittens about 6-7 weeks old. We call them 'the twins'. One is always running around the back yard on his own. The other sticks close to his mama and seems to be afraid of his own shadow.
And then.... there's "the wanderer" in the side yard. He's a little ball of black fluff. His mama leaves him a lot and he never stays where she left him. He wanders about and cries. But he's very brave and has no fear of other cats.
Occasionally all 4 kittens are in the back at the same time and will play together. Today was one of those days. I tried to use my iPhone and get a video of them playing. In it if you look closely, you can see how shaky Skita is. It starts off with Skita...
Video not uploading...??
We do worry about Skita... since he probably has CH... and is living outdoors. We keep an eye on him, but regretfully can't bring him inside as we already have 4 older cats inside. Taking in more at our age doesn't seem like a viable option. But we are open to suggestions...
7 comments:
I'm so glad you were able to get the other kittens. Was there a reason not to get Skita too? I don't have suggestions, just a *thank you* for taking care of so many now and over the years.
Yes. since he was the runt and apparently not doing well fighting the other 5 kittens for milk, we decided his best chance was to leave him with his feral mama (since we couldn't catch her). And since he has CH, the shelter would have euthanized him. I don't think they adopt out special needs kittens...
Sorry for the poor kitty. Nice story of the four kittens.
I don't know how you keep up with all the ferals, but I'm so glad you do!
Bless you for caring about these kitties! Little beauties! I love SKita's name.
You've piqued my interest in these kitties and I want to know how they're doing now. Each one of them sound like survivors and with you in their lives they have a very good chance. Have you been able to find homes for any of them ?
All the kittens are doing fine... except Skita. DH found him a few days ago lying by the creek. We don't know how he even got down there. He didn't seem to have any wounds on him that we could see. And no, we haven't found homes for the others. They are feral and won't let us too close, but they seem healthy and happy.
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