By: Terrie Lynn Bach
Late one Sunday night last spring, we got a message that there was a single neonatal kitten found. The finder did not want to take care of such a tiny kitten who needed to be bottle fed and was not interested in learning.
Our Cat Team had to hustle to save this baby’s life!
Many texts and a few phone calls later, volunteer SD was headed over to pick the kitten up. As often happens in these kinds of situations, the finder was less than communicative and a bit difficult to deal with, but finally we got this tiny baby!
We got some pics and quickly sent off an email to the Austin Pets Alive Neonatal Program Director, pleading for help. APA replied that they were full, but they would take her if they could find a foster. Paws crossed!
Baby “Princess Leah,” as her rescuer/first foster named her, would not take formula; she fussed and fussed. SD learned a new skill in tube feeding this desperately sick kitten. It was the only way to get formula into her.
Finally we got her to take formula from a syringe, and then, of course, she had issues with constipation and then diarrhea. A vet visit got her checked out and some medications going for her.
Several volunteers who were looking out for Princess Leah’s wellbeing named their Facebook Messenger group “The Princess Leah Fan Club,” and they were—and continue to be—some of the best cheerleaders this kitten could ever want.
When volunteer SL found out that all we needed was a foster home to get Princess Leah transferred over to Austin Pets Alive, she volunteered. As a current APA foster, it was easy for her to step forward: “I’m contacting APA right now. I’ll foster Princess Leah!”
The next day, we got an email reply from APA saying that they had found a foster, and we took her in. SL picked her up, and we went back to sharing info on her and offering tips and suggestions when she quit eating several times and had to be tube fed again.
When APA changed her name to Bessie, The Princess Leah Fan Club was incensed. SL convinced them to keep her name. We think it suits her!
As time went by, Princess Leah started eating better, gaining weight, and growing! Her fan club was ecstatic!
A couple of months later, Princess Leah was bigger, healthier, eating cat food, ready to be spayed, and to be adopted into her new, furever home.
It’s always bittersweet to let a foster baby go to their new home: there’s a feeling of satisfaction in knowing that we saved this baby’s life, but sadness in letting her leave the “nest.” There were many happy tears in the Princess Leah Fan Club on the day she went to her new home.
In the words of SD, Princess Leah was a real fighter from day one. She gave us a run for our money! But she never gave up on life and we never gave up on her, no matter what challenge she offered us!
It truly takes a village and an awesome cat saving team to save these precious lives. And we just love that this story ends with a happy tail.
I love this story! I bottle fed a neonatal a few years ago and I was blessed to find him a great home! His new “mama” fell in love with him and he is now pampered and spoiled! Neonatals are a lot of hard work but worth every sleepy middle of the night feeding you crawl out of bed to give them!